Doctor Who - American Version - Serial
by RevolutionMan
Summary: Doctor Who - Presented as a re-imagining of the show Doctor Who for American audiences. It presumes NO connection to the continuity established by the long running British television series, but absolutely WILL borrow heavily from that awesome/amazing show. Some characters will be re-named. Some "laws" will be broken. A serial adaptation, in script form.
1. Chapter 1

The Premise: This is a re-imagining of the show _Doctor Who_ for American audiences. It presumes NO connection to the continuity established by the long running British television series, but absolutely WILL borrow heavily from that awesome/amazing show. Some characters will be re-named. Some "laws" will be broken. Creatures, aliens, and tech might be represented differently. I consider it an adaptation, written for fun. I hope you enjoy.

EXT. PARKING LOT – ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – DAY

SUPER: EARTH – MAY 2013

The late spring sun reflects off the hood of a mini-van inefficiently packed with dirty laundry, small furniture, and a television. The sticker on the rear window reads: ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY. It is one of many as college students and their parents load up their belongings, bound for home over summer break.

There's a breeze in the air. It blows a few wisps of blonde hair across the face of a recent graduate, **ROSE TAYLOR** (22), as she steps out into the sun from the gray stone dormitory. She drags a red suitcase behind her, the tassel from a graduation cap tied to one of its buckles. Dried tears streak her cheeks even as her warm and genuine smile threatens to overwhelm her kind face.

Nearby, a chapel bell lets out a series of rings the same as it has for over a century. Rose looks back and up and laughs at the sound, as if it's told some sort of joke. She turns from it and sets out for the parking lot without noticing the two people staring at her from the ivy cloaked corner of the chapel.

One of them is a man like no other, tall and striking, wearing brown jeans and a leather jacket over a collared shirt. He is the **DOCTOR** (33), and he observes Rose with pursed lips and forlorn eyes. He turns to his companion, the woman with him, and sees the same face, the same features, but not the same youthful exuberance. His companion is also Rose Taylor, a **FUTURE ROSE** (23), not much older than the one in the parking lot loading her suitcase into a car, but certainly less vibrant.

**DOCTOR**  
**As promised. Let it never be said I'm not a man of my word.**

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**No one ever said that.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Right. Well, they're about to be off. Then, you and me will be off. When that's done, just give your mom a quick buzz on your little gadget there and she can pick you right up as if you never left.**

Future Rose holds up her cell phone and shows it to him.

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**It's a cell phone. You know it's a cell phone, and you still call it a gadget.**

The Doctor pulls out a small metal device around the size and shape of a screwdriver.

**DOCTOR**  
**And you still call the sonic screwdriver a "thing", even though you know damn well...**

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**It ****_is_**** a thing.**

**DOCTOR**  
**And that ****_is_**** a gadget.**

They avoid looking at each other and each turn their attention on the Rose in the parking lot. The young Rose hugs her mother, **JACKIE TAYLOR** (40's), by the car. It's a long embrace, perpetuated by Jackie's refusal to let go each time Rose tries to pull away. Eventually, the older woman relents so Rose can also hug a young man, **MARK** (22). He looks about her age, somewhat unremarkable in build, and wears glasses. They kiss.

Both the Doctor and Future Rose look away from the kiss.

**DOCTOR**  
**You could warn her. Tell her not to go with me.**

Future Rose looks at him, startled, maybe even a bit horrified.

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**Won't that damage the time stream? Create a paradox or something?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, it'd rip the universe a new one, all right. But what good would I be as a Doctor, or a Time Lord for that matter, if I couldn't repair a simple thing like a paradox?**

Future Rose smiles for the first time. It lasts half a second, but it's infectious.

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm serious. You could start over new from the day you graduated college. You could tell her of monsters, and homicidal robots, and brain possessing shrieks... and me. You could convince her to take the normal life.**

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**What about all those things we did together?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Won't ever have happened. At least not the way they happened. They'll have to happen. It'll just happen to happen differently than they happened. You asked me for an end to your nightmare. You asked to go home. I can do better than that. I can make the nightmare never happen. If that's what you want, go to her. Go to her, now, and tell her to stay away from me.**

Future Rose thinks hard, looks to the parking lot. The Doctor offers her a reassuring smile, nods. She cries, visibly hurt by this for some reason.

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**I won't remember you at all?**

The Doctor shakes his head 'no'.

**DOCTOR**  
**If anyone asks you about the Doctor, all you'll be able to say is... "Doctor Who?"**

Future Rose continues to cry.

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**Will you remember me?**

As Future Rose cries, the Doctor looks back at the younger Rose in the parking lot. She smiles, laughs. She's so full of life compared to the sobbing and disheveled mess in front of him waiting for an answer.

-OPENING CREDITS ROLL-

-To be Continued...-


	2. Chapter 2 - Rose Gets A Head

EXT. ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – MORNING

The sun rises on another morning over the Philadelphia campus. Students make their way from the dormitory to the academic buildings. Some gather for a first of the day smoke before heading inside. About half carry with them a coffee from the on-campus shop. The logo reads "The Bird's Nest" with a picture of the school mascot; a red hawk.

INT. SHOP - THE BIRD'S NEST – MORNING

The young version of Rose Taylor skips inside the small shop, a backpack slung over one shoulder. She waves to SAMANTHA (20), the girl behind the counter selling graduation gown packets to the first in a long line of eager SENIORS.

**SAMANTHA**  
**Don't be late or anything.**

**ROSE**  
**(laughs)**  
**Don't complain or anything. **

**SAMANTHA**  
**My box is low already. Grab a case and get back out here, will ya?**

**ROSE**  
**Sure.**

Rose slides behind the counter and then into…

INT. STORAGE ROOM – THE BIRD'S NEST

Boxes are piled high in front of shelves and shelves of new and used textbooks and overpriced clothes imprinted with "school spirit". Rose tosses her backpack into a corner, then grabs a razor and slices open one of the boxes. Inside are graduation gown packets. Each plastic wrapped packet contains a gown, hat, tassel, a pamphlet, a hawks pin, and a Bluetooth headset with the hawk logo.

Noticing the headset, Rose chooses one of the packets and then carries the box back out.

INT. SHOP - THE BIRD'S NEST

Rose drops the box at Samantha's feet. The line of seniors has grown even longer, but Rose seems more interested in the Bluetooth headset.

**ROSE**  
**Is this Bluetooth?**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Remember the gift they said they were giving everybody with the packets?**

**ROSE**  
**Yeah, but I thought it would be something shoddy, like a pen or something. Or even this stupid pin in here.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Just open up your register, please. The line's out the door already.**

**ROSE**  
**Sorry for being late.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**No you're not. Can't wait until next year, when I've got my case of senioritis.**

**ROSE**  
**I can help the next customer.**

A JUNIOR steps up to the counter.

**JUNIOR**  
**Hi, how much for just the Bluetooth?**

**ROSE**  
**They actually come in the senior packet, so…**

From behind her, Rose's manager, DON LITTLE (50's), sneaks up with a Bluetooth device individually wrapped. He's the opposite of his name, a huge human being in all the ugly ways. He looks like he probably smells.

**LITTLE**  
**We actually do sell them separately. That'll be twenty-two dollars.**

**ROSE**  
**Sorry, Mr. Little.**

**LITTLE**  
**(to Rose)**  
**If you had been here for the meeting, you'd know that.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Give her a break, Don. She's got a wicked case of senioritis.**

Little rolls his eyes and drops a small box of just Bluetooth headpieces on the counter next to Rose's register. When he turns to go back to the storage room, Rose makes a face at him behind his back.

**SAMANTHA**  
**Won't miss the sweaty fog, will ya?**

They share a laugh.

EXT. THE BIRD'S NEST

Morning turns to late afternoon, with a steady stream of customers throughout. Eventually, Rose, carrying her backpack and a pair of graduation packets, exits and makes her way toward the academic buildings.

INT. HALLWAY – MOFFAT BUILDING

From one end of the hall, Rose waves. At the other end, we see Mark, the boy from the parking lot. They meet in the middle, kiss, and then Rose hands him one of the packets.

**MARK**  
**Thanks for grabbing me one. How much do I owe you?**

**ROSE**  
**Fifty.**

**MARK**  
**It isn't enough they make forty-five thousand a year on us in tuition, and thousands more on textbooks, they have to ream us one more time just before we graduate? Money-gouging, capitalist, bastards. Oo, Bluetooth? Neat.**

They walk together into one of the classrooms.

INT. CLASSROOM – MOFFAT BUILDING

PROFESSOR LOWENSTEIN, a petite woman with a scholarly air about her, writes on the SMART Board at the front of the classroom as she lectures. Already displayed on the board is a map of Ancient Israel and some dates.

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**So Finkelstein argues that there never was this golden age as described in the Hebrew Bible. Certainly, if it were as large as the Bible claims, there would be much greater archaeological evidence to support it.**

At the back of the classroom, Rose watches the clock, bored out of her face. Mark fiddles with his new Bluetooth piece under his desk. He pretends like it's a gun and mocks shooting himself with it for Rose's amusement.

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**His chief argument asserts that we have no extra-Biblical evidence to suggest that there ever was a King David.**

Someone laughs… loud.

Lowenstein, and everyone in the class, turn their attention on the front row, all the way in the corner, where there sits a few retirees, AUDITORS, and someone we instantly recognize as the Doctor.

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**(to the Doctor)**  
**You find something amusing, sir?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Doctor, actually.**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**Doctor of what?**

**DOCTOR**  
**See, usually people ask, "Doctor Who?"**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**I appreciate that you've come to audit my class, Doctor, but I must insist you extend me courtesy and stop interrupting me.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Terribly sorry. Won't happen again. I just found it funny, is all. I always find it funny when someone insists one of my friends never existed.**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**Your friends?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes.**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**You were friends with King David?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Of course. He had a wonderful singing voice. Bit of a toe fungus issue plagued him in his later years, though. Got difficult to be around.**

The class laughs.

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**All right, out of my class. Out, right now.**

The Doctor shrugs and marches for the door. Before he exits, he stops and turns to face the class.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, just one thing before I go, have any of you noticed that your professor has been replaced by a, um... a robot?**

The class laughs again.

**MARK**  
**(to Rose)**  
**What's this guy's deal? **  
**ROSE**  
**I have no idea.**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**Get out of my class, right now, sir!**

**DOCTOR**  
**(to the class)**  
**No? Nobody's noticed? You in the back? No? Thought I saw a hand. Oh well. Later.**

The Doctor leaves and Professor Lowenstein slams the door behind him. Clearly enraged, the Professor takes a moment to sit at her desk.

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**Just, one moment, please. A moment.**

The Professor reaches into her bag, pulls out a Bluetooth headset, and affixes it to her ear.

**ROSE**  
**(to Mark)**  
**What's she, making a phone call?**

Mark shrugs.

Lowenstein again reaches into her bag and pulls out a box of cigarettes and a lighter. She lights up right at the desk. The class looks confused. Rose raises her hand.

**ROSE**  
**Um, excuse me. I don't think we're allowed to smoke in-**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**Get out.**

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**All of you. I don't want to see any of you anymore. I'm done with you. Just get out.**

Slowly, everyone in the class stands and walks out. Rose is one of the last ones out. In all the confusion, she doesn't realize she's forgotten her graduation packet on the floor by her desk.

EXT. ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – NIGHT

It's night now, and as the last classes for the day are dismissed, students return to their dorms and prepare for an evening of fun. Mark, still playing with his Bluetooth headset, walks Rose back to her dorm.

**ROSE**  
**Who was that man?**

**MARK**  
**Hell if I know. Not that I care. I didn't want to sit there for another twenty minutes anyway.**

**ROSE**  
**I mean, he really got to her, calling her a robot. I've never seen a professor get so upset before. **

**MARK**  
**I remember in high school, I took shop class to avoid having to take a language. One day, there was a sub, and everyone was all running around with saws and stuff. She ran crying to the Principal and refused to ever sub for our school again.**

**ROSE**  
**He wasn't one of the regular auditors.**

Mark tries attached the Bluetooth headset to his ear. He can't get it.

**MARK**  
**Hey, how do you do this? I can't-**

Rose helps him attach it properly. He pulls out his phone and tries making a call.

**MARK**  
**Hello? Hello?**

**ROSE**  
**You have to go into your phone's settings.**

She stops walking.

**ROSE  
Oh my god…**

**MARK**  
**What?**

**ROSE**  
**I forgot my packet at my desk. I have to go back and get it.**

She turns and goes back.

**MARK**  
**I'll come with you.**

**ROSE**  
**No, it's okay. I'll meet you at the Dive at eight.**

**MARK**  
**You're sure?**

**ROSE**  
**I'm sure.**

She runs back towards the academic buildings.

INT. HALLWAY – MOFFAT BUILDING

The halls are empty and quiet. Some, but not all, of the lights have been turned off. Rose walks alone. There's some commotion, but she can't quite tell where it's coming from. She approaches her classroom. The noise gets louder.

INT. CLASSROOM – MOFFAT BUILDING

Rose opens the door and steps inside. A chair smashes into the wall not far from her. She screams and falls. From the ground, she is shocked to see…

The Doctor struggles with Professor Lowenstein. He has her in a headlock. He pulls, and pulls, and pulls her head right off her body. Inside her neck hole, we see lights and robotic parts.

The Doctor sees Rose and tosses her the head.

**DOCTOR**  
**Be a dear and hold this, will you? Whatever you do, don't let it go.**

Rose catches the Professor's head, which is still very much "alive".

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**Didn't I tell you to get out?**

Rose screams!

-To be Continued-


	3. Chapter 3 - One Little Explosion

INT. CLASSROOM – MOFFAT BUILDING

Rose screams and throws Professor Lowenstein's head into the hall. It bounces a couple of times and hits the far wall, where it lands on its side. Eight mechanical legs, like spider legs, burst from the base of the head and turn it upright. It looks at Rose, hisses, and then scurries away down the dark hall.

Meanwhile, the Doctor fights Professor Lowenstein's headless robot body. They exchange several body blows before the Doctor manages to pin the body against a wall with the teacher's desk. He then climbs up on the desk, pulls out his sonic screwdriver, and drives it into the neck hole of the robot. The robot powers down, with all the lights inside of it turning off except one red blinking light. The Doctor notices the light and his eyes widen.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, that's not good.**

The Doctor hops down from the desk and helps Rose up off the ground.

**ROSE**  
**That's... she... Robot!**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes, good, those are words. Let's try a sentence next. Where's the head?**

**ROSE**  
**The what?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I did say not to let it go, didn't I? I swear, I remember saying that. Anyway, we should probably get going, before the body explodes.**

**ROSE**  
**Explodes?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes, boom, you know. Pakow!**

He takes her by the hand and they run.

At the desk, the red blinking light blinks faster... faster... faster...

EXT. MOFFAT BUILDING – NIGHT

The Doctor and Rose run outside and away from the building.

**DOCTOR**  
**Jump!**

They both leap away from the building, anticipating a massive explosion... but nothing happens. On the ground, the Doctor waits. Rose waits.

**DOCTOR**  
**Huh. That's weird.**

**ROSE**  
**I thought you said there was going to be an...**

BOOOOOOOM! A massive explosion blows out windows and the doors of the Moffat Building. Rose screams. The Doctor smiles.

**DOCTOR**  
**There it is.**

The Doctor stands up. He offers Rose his hand, but she slaps it away.

**ROSE**  
**Get away from me.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Now, I need you to think. Where did the head go?**

**ROSE**  
**I'm fine, thank you very much for asking.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, try not to be dramatic about it. I need you to remember. It's imperative I find that head. Did you see which way it went?**

The Doctor looks in all directions.

**ROSE**  
**No, I didn't see which way it went. Who the hell are you? What was that thing in there? Was that really a robot?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Do you know of anything else that blows up when you pull its head off?**

**ROSE**  
**No, I just wanted to know what to say to the cops when they get here.**

Rose pulls out her cell phone and dials 9-1-1. The Doctor notices the phone, grabs it, and smashes it on the ground.

**ROSE**  
**That's my phone!**

**DOCTOR**  
**You mustn't tell anyone about this, you understand me? If you do, you'll get them killed. Even the police. You mustn't tell anyone about me, or the robot, or anything.**

**ROSE**  
**Really? Or I'll get them killed?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Killed dead, yes.**

**ROSE**  
**And you couldn't have given me that warning without smashing my phone to bits?**

The Doctor looks down at the smashed cell phone.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, right, sorry. Anyway, no need to worry. Look around you.**

Rose sees a large crowd gathering around the building, spying the scene. Sirens can be heard in the distance.

**DOCTOR**  
**I'd wager half of Philly heard that boom. No need to call in the fuzzy fuzz. Now, it's not going to be safe for you, here. My advice to you is to get off campus, quick as you can. Tell no one what you saw. I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?**

**ROSE**  
**Rose.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Pleased to meet your acquaintance.**

The Doctor smiles happily, then runs off.

**ROSE**  
**Wait, Doctor! Who are you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm just a man trying to get a head.**

He disappears around a corner.

EXT. THE BIRD'S NEST – NIGHT

Professor Lowenstein's disembodied head sneaks around in the shadows to avoid being spotted by a crowd of students rushing to the scene of the explosion. She sneaks around the back of the building.

INT. STORAGE ROOM - THE BIRD'S NEST

Lowenstein's Spider-head sneaks around in the dark until a single light flickers on to reveal Mr. Little.

**LITTLE**  
**You idiot. We were told to avoid detection at all costs. Now, they've sent the police.**

He throws a pencil at her.

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**There was nothing I could do. A man, he called himself "The Doctor", he knew who I was.**

**LITTLE**  
**How is that possible?**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**I don't know, but he had technology not of this Earth. And there was a girl with him, Rose Taylor, from my class.**

Little thinks.

**LITTLE**  
**Yes, she works for Little. We'll have to push up the timetable. In the meantime, sister, you'll have to stay hidden. Come here.**

Lowenstein's Spider-head crawls up Little's leg and onto his chest. His mouth opens impossibly wide, like a snake, and he swallows her whole.

EXT. TENNANT APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT

Rose exits a bus outside her mother's apartment building in Philadelphia. It's four story building, nothing too lavish, but not a dive either. She steps up to the front entrance and rings the buzzer.

**JACKIE (V.O.)**  
**Hello? Rose?!**

**ROSE**  
**Yeah, it's me.**

**JACKIE (V.O.)**  
**Oh, my god! You had me worried sick, you little brat. Get in here!**

The door buzzes, and Rose steps inside.

INT. LIVING ROOM – JACKIE'S APARTMENT

On the television, reporter GWENDOLYN MAUVE (30's) reports from just outside St. Joseph's University campus. Jackie, her hair and makeup a disaster, watches from by her open door.

**MAUVE (V.O.)**  
**The campus has been closed off as police investigate the cause of the explosion. Early reports indicate it may not have been an accident. There are no serious injuries reported, but one professor is reported missing.**

Jackie sees Rose exit the elevator.

**JACKIE**  
**Thank god. My baby! I was worried sick. Why don't you pick up your damn phone? You're always on that thing and the one day I need you to answer, you can't be bothered?**

**ROSE**  
**It broke. My phone's broke.**

**JACKIE**  
**What? Your brand new phone? I just bought you that phone.**

Rose steps inside and Jackie closes the door.

**ROSE**  
**Not now, Mom.**

Rose collapses on Jackie's couch, face first. She buries her head in a pillow.

**JACKIE**  
**Mark called. Had me worried sick. He said you went into that building to get your grad kit or something. Thought you were inside when it happened, then I couldn't get a hold of you. Is your shirt burned?**

Rose unburies herself and looks at the spot on her shirt. It's charred from the explosion fire.

**ROSE**  
**Yeah, I guess it is.**

Jackie dials her cell phone, waits.

**JACKIE**  
**Hello, Mark? Yeah, she's here. She's okay.**

Jackie offers Rose the phone.

**JACKIE**  
**He wants to talk to you, see how you are. I'll make you something to eat. You want a sandwich.**

Rose takes the phone as her mother retreats into the kitchen.

**ROSE**  
**I don't want a sandwich.**

**JACKIE (O.S.)**  
**I have a leftover pork chop. Or I can boil you up some pasta.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not hungry!**

**JACKIE (O.S.)**  
**I'm putting on the pot.**

Rose rolls her eyes and presses the phone to her ear.

**ROSE**  
**Hello? …. Yeah, I'm fine... No... You don't have to come over, no. No, my mom's making me pasta. Or a pork chop. I don't really know. I'm not hungry. You don't have to come over. You don't have to come over... Okay.**

Rose hangs up the phone and puts it on the coffee table.

**ROSE**  
**Mom, Mark's coming over.**

**JACKIE (O.S.)**  
**I can make a ham.**

Rose buries herself in the pillow again.

INT. JACKIE'S APARTMENT – LATER

Rose, Jackie, and Mark are all sitting at Jackie's kitchen table. Mark is still wearing his Bluetooth headset. There's ham, instant potatoes, and a salad laid out. Mark and Jackie eat like it's their last meal. Rose just sort of sits there, zoning out.

**MARK**  
**This is good ham, Mrs. T.**

**JACKIE**  
**I was savin' it for an occasion, but what with Rose not being dead and all, I thought that an occasion.**

**ROSE**  
**Have you been drinking?**

**JACKIE**  
**What? No, I'm just happy you're alive, is all.**

Jackie coughs into her hand, all sly-like, and then sniffs her hand for alcohol.

**MARK**  
**So, were you in the building when it blew?**

**ROSE**  
**Just outside.**

**MARK**  
**Was anyone with you?**

**JACKIE**  
**With her? Who would be with her?**

**ROSE**  
**No, I was alone. It all just happened so fast. I was lucky I was outside when it blew.**

Mark eats a few more bites.

**JACKIE**  
**You know, you could get money.**

**ROSE**  
**Mom.**

**JACKIE**  
**I'm serious. From the school. Or something. You almost died.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not gonna sue.**

**MARK**  
**Where's your grad kit?**

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**MARK**  
**Your grad kit. You went back to get it. Where is it?**

**ROSE**  
**Oh, I didn't get it. It blew up before I went in.**

**JACKIE**  
**That's just lucky you weren't there a little sooner.**

A knock can be heard at the door. Jackie gets up to head to the door.

**JACKIE**  
**Don't worry. It's probably just Arthur.**

**ROSE**  
**Arthur? At this hour?**

**MARK**  
**Well, I mean, what were you just standing outside?**

**ROSE**  
**What's with the third degree?**

**MARK**  
**No, I'm just saying, we didn't get far when you turned around, but the explosion happened a bit later. How'd you never make it inside unless you were just standing outside?**

**ROSE**  
**You know what? I don't need this. All right? I almost died tonight. I don't need to be interrogated by...**

**JACKIE (O.S.)**  
**Who are you?**

**DOCTOR (O.S.)**  
**I'm the Doctor. Who are you?**

**MARK**  
**I'm not interrogating you. I just don't understand why you're lying to me.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not... Wait, is that...?**

Rose gets up and heads to the door.

**JACKIE**  
**What a strange question to ask. You knocked on my door.**

**DOCTOR**  
**So I did. Must've been a mistake.**

Rose rushes over. He sees her.

**DOCTOR**  
**Or not. What are you doing here?**

**ROSE**  
**This is my mom's place.**

**JACKIE**  
**You know this man?**

**ROSE**  
**Yeah, he's... a cop. He was at the scene and questioned me. You have more questions? Come inside.**

She pulls him inside and closes the door.

**JACKIE**  
**But he just said he was a Doctor.**

**ROSE**  
**Right, cop doctor.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Cop doctor, I like that.**

Mark sees the Doctor and stands up.

**MARK**  
**You.**

**DOCTOR**  
**(waves)**  
**Hello.**

**MARK**  
**This is the guy from the class. The auditor.**

**JACKIE**  
**He's a tax collector?**

**ROSE**  
**No, Mom. Please.**

**JACKIE**  
**Because I settled with the IRS. I'm clean with them.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Is that ham?**

The Doctor happily walks over and eats some ham.

**MARK**  
**What's he doing here?**

**JACKIE**  
**Besides eating my ham?**

**ROSE**  
**He just has some questions for me.**

**DOCTOR**  
**No, I don't.**

**ROSE**  
**It'll just take ten minutes.**

**DOCTOR**  
**No, it won't.**

**ROSE**  
**You're not helping.**

**DOCTOR**  
**No, I'm not.**

He smiles.

**ROSE**  
**Why are you here?**

The Doctor reads something off his sonic screwdriver and then points it at Mark.

**DOCTOR**  
**For him, apparently.**

Everyone looks at Mark, who immediately reacts by vaulting the kitchen table and attacking the Doctor. Jackie screams. They crash into a cabinet and the sonic screwdriver is thrown into a corner.

**ROSE**  
**Stop it, Mark! Stop, he's all right.**

Rose moves to intervene, but Mark punches her across the face. She falls onto the floor. Seeing this, Jackie attacks Mark, but she gets a kick to the stomach for her trouble.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, yeah, this brings back memories.**

The Doctor and Mark fight some more, knocking over the television. It's sparks and the screen breaks.

**JACKIE**  
**My television!**

Rose shakes the cobwebs from her head and sees the sonic screwdriver in the corner of the room. She crawls across the carpet and grabs it.

**ROSE**  
**Mark, stop!**

She points the screwdriver at Mark, cringes, and presses the button. It does nothing.

**DOCTOR**  
**Nice try, Rose, dear, but that's a screwdriver.**

The Doctor and Mark roll around on the ground some more.

**ROSE**  
**Well, how was I supposed to know that?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Get closer and point it at his ear piece.**

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**DOCTOR**  
**His ear piece!**

Rose jumps on Mark's back as he pounds away at the Doctor. She points the sonic screwdriver at Mark's Bluetooth headset. A light on the piece blinks off and Mark immediately responds as if he's just woken up from a dream.

**MARK**  
**What? What's going-**

Out of nowhere, Jackie smashes Mark over the head with a vase. It cracks into a million pieces and he is knocked unconscious.

**ROSE**  
**Mom!**

**JACKIE**  
**Oh, that was a gift from Aunt Bootsie.**

The Doctor gets up, grabs the sonic screwdriver from Rose, and picks up Mark's Bluetooth ear piece. Rose tends to Mark.

**JACKIE**  
**He's not dead, is he?**

**DOCTOR**  
**This is a fascinating bit of tech.**

**ROSE**  
**He's not moving, Doctor.**

The Doctor turns around, bends over Mark, and touches the boy's head a bit.

**DOCTOR**  
**Eh-eh, he's fine.**

**ROSE**  
**Eh-eh, he's fine? That's it?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Which one of us is the Doctor? He has a concussion. He'll wake up with a wicked headache and thinking he's Napoleon. Should wear off in a couple of days. But this bit of tech... this is trouble.**

He holds up the Bluetooth.

**ROSE**  
**Was it controlling his mind?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Ah. Very good. Outside of everyone, I'm not sure many could've picked up on that one.**

**ROSE**  
**Are you being cruel? Because I was just almost blown up an hour ago.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Still whining on about that, are you? It was just one little explosion.  
**

The Doctor heads for the door.

**ROSE**  
**What? Where are you going?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Work to be done.**

Rose heads out after him.

**JACKIE**  
**Where and- are you going with him?**

Jackie follows them.

INT. STAIRWELL – TENNANT APARTMENT BUILDING

The Doctor descends rapidly with Rose behind him and Jackie behind her.

**ROSE**  
**Wait a minute. I think I deserve an explanation. Are you a terrorist or something?**

**DOCTOR**  
**(rolls eyes)**  
**Americans. A bomb goes off and it's gotta be terrorists. Wasn't I who blew up the building. If you'll recall, I was the one trying to stop it.**

**ROSE**  
**Homeland Security, then?**

**JACKIE**  
**Are you like Jack Bauer?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Rather prefer James Bond, myself.  
**

**ROSE**  
**So, that's it, then?**

The Doctor stops to look at her.

**ROSE**  
**You're a secret agent? Fighting, like, a secret war against things and creatures we aren't supposed to know about?**

**DOCTOR**  
**In a way. It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite wrap your head around it because everything around you looks like it's just standing still. But it's not. Everything around us is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. We're falling through space, clinging to the skin of this tiny little pebble, and if we let go for even an instant. Wouldn't that be a trip? Now, go back upstairs, Rose. Don't follow me. You'll be better off.**

The Doctor runs downstairs. For a second, Rose considers heading back up, but only a second. She follows.

**JACKIE**  
**Now, he told you not to follow him!**

Jackie chases after her.

EXT. TENNANT APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT

The Doctor stands outside the apartment building, unmoving. This enables Rose and Jackie to catch him rather easily, but perhaps they didn't want to, as they find themselves completely surrounded by brainwashed co-eds from the University, all with their Bluetooth headsets on.

**ROSE**  
**Does danger follow you everywhere?**

**DOCTOR**  
**What's that make you?**

Rose and Jackie cower behind him.

-To be Continued...-


	4. Chapter 4 - 5 Percent and Philadelphia

EXT. TENNANT APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT

The Doctor, Rose, and Jackie are surrounded by remote controlled co-eds. One of them, Samantha from Rose's workplace, steps forward.

**ROSE**  
**Oh my god, it's Samantha.**

The Doctor keeps Rose back.

**DOCTOR**  
**Don't. She's not herself. Remember Mark.**  
Samantha stops several yards away.

**SAMANTHA**  
**You are the one who refers to himself as the Doctor?**

**DOCTOR**  
**That's my... well, don't wear it out, anyway.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**I am Daga Rumm...**

INT. UNKNOWN LOCATION

Surrounded by the night, Mr. Little, now called DAGA RUMM, is sitting in a lawn chair by himself in a wooden attic of sorts. There are boxes of Bluetooth headsets piled to the ceiling. He speaks into a hovering crystal holo-generator.

**DAGA RUMM**  
**… Grand Beece of Megaress, Third in the Order of Vox.**

EXT. TENNANT APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT

Jackie crinkles her nose.

**JACKIE**  
**What did he call himself? What kind of name is that?**

**DOCTOR**  
**You are not of this world, then.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Neither are you, I think.**

**DOCTOR**  
**This planet is young, only a few billion years old. Under the Articles of Xennkethi, Amendment 14, Section 1, Sub-section 3, they are protected from unlawful invasion by the Superior Adjunct of All Evolved Races.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Even if I recognized such authority, which I do not, this is not an invasion. I bring a great gift to the people of Earth. This planet is rich in resources and these pitiful halfwits haven't any idea how to exploit them. They sit on their little pile of gold, floating in space, twiddling their newly evolved thumbs, when they could be making real money. I plan to educate them in proper interstellar business.**

**DOCTOR**  
**By brainwashing them?**

**SAMANTHA**  
**It is the most efficient means of educating a populace, and has the added elegance of being so very American. When I'm finished with them, they'll be welcomed into the interstellar community with open arms... and wallets.**

**DOCTOR**  
**And what's your cut?**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Fifty percent.**

**ROSE**  
**Of the planet?**

**SAMANTHA**  
**This American society makes its children, and their families, pay for education from when you are mere babies. I've done nothing to violate the established practices of these people.**

**JACKIE**  
**I thought your tuition was bad.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I don't want to hear it. They're not ready!**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Are children ever really ready to grow up?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I can stop you.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**No, Doctor, you cannot. But you can be a nuisance, which is why I've come with an offer. If you agree to leave me be, I'll give you... two percent, right off the top.**

The Doctor sneers... thinks.

**DOCTOR**  
**Fifteen.**

**JACKIE**  
**Hey!**

Rose, equally appalled, grabs the Doctor and turns him around to yell at him.

**ROSE**  
**What the hell, I thought you were here to save us from these... these... whatever the hell they are.**

**DOCTOR**  
**They're aliens, and fairly powerful ones at that. Better to hop on board then get run over. Besides, maybe you could get yourself a piece of the action, too.**

Without anyone noticing, the Doctor reaches into his pocket and presses a button on a small handheld device which then begins blinking.

**ROSE**  
**Ugh! A piece of the action? Some hero you're turning out to be. You sound more like a gangster thug.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I never claimed to be a hero. Who said I was a hero?**

The Doctor turns back to Samantha.

**DOCTOR**  
**Thirteen percent.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Be reasonable. I've done all the work. Four percent, and I'll throw in some stock options.**

**JACKIE**  
**Should we call the police or something?**

Rose turns the Doctor around again.

**ROSE**  
**You have to save us. That's my friend, and that was my boyfriend up there in the apartment. Taking control of people like that, it's not right.**

**DOCTOR**  
**If you could be anything in the world, what would it be?**

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**DOCTOR**  
**You're graduating in a few weeks, right? What's your major? What do you want to do with your life? Be when you grow up?**

**ROSE**  
**Is this really the time to-**

**DOCTOR**  
**What would it be?!**

**ROSE**  
**School teacher. I want to teach history.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Really? See, now, that's so interesting. I'm a bit of a history buff myself.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Ehem, Doctor, we were negotiating for the planet.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Right, eleven percent, stock options, and I want Philly.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**The city?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Uh-huh. I like it. It's neato.**

**ROSE**  
**Doctor, please!**

Jackie summons the courage to step up to one of the mind-controlled students. She waves her hand in front of him.

**JACKIE**  
**I think I'm getting it. You're all having a bit of fun at my expense, aren't you? This is just some kind of sorority or frat prank, isn't it?**

She reaches for the Bluetooth device in the guy's ear.

**DOCTOR**  
**(to Jackie)**  
**Don't touch that. If you remove it without deactivating it properly, it'll fry his brain. **

**JACKIE**  
**Yeah, right.**

Jackie laughs and reaches for the headset.

**ROSE**  
**Mom, don't!**

The student slaps her hand away and punches Jackie in the face, knocking her back a few steps.

**JACKIE**  
**Ow! Little bastard. I think he broke my nose.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Please don't touch the merchandise, ma'am. Doctor, I can do five percent, stock options, and you can have... Pittsburgh.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yuck.**

**ROSE**  
**This is ridiculous.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Isn't it, though? Nine percent, stock options, and Philly. It has to be Philly. That's gonna be a deal breaker for me. See, Rose, this is history right here. You're going to be present for the business deal of the millennium. Doesn't that excite you even a little?**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Five percent, skip the options, and... okay, fine, you can have Philly. But I'm offering you a great deal, here.**

**ROSE**  
**Not at the expense of selling out the planet. Because that's what you're doing.**

The Doctor smiles, proud of her.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, Rose, you're beautiful.**

He looks at his watch.  
**DOCTOR**  
**But actually, I have no intention of selling out the planet. Just stalling.**

Tires screech as a white minivan barrels around the corner. It skids to a halt across the street from where they are all standing. The word TARDIS is written on the side in blue letters.

**DOCTOR**  
**You know what, Daga, on second thought, I think Rose is right. Maybe we should just save the planet from tyranny and greed, once again.**

He grabs Rose's hand.

**DOCTOR**  
**Come on, Jackie, try and keep up.**

The Doctor lowers his shoulder and smashes through the line of mind-controlled students. Jackie and Rose follow as best they can. They run straight for the van.

**SAMANTHA**  
**Don't let him escape!**

The students chase after him.

**DOCTOR**  
**Get in the van!**

**ROSE**  
**A strange, white, van with an even stranger man. Yeah, this seems like a good idea.**

They all squeeze in the front of the van and the Doctor drives off just before the students catch them.

INT. WHITE VAN – NIGHT

The Doctor drives. Blood pours from Jackie's nose.

**JACKIE**  
**Seriously, I think my nose is broken.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Please, don't get blood in the van.**

**ROSE**  
**Do you have any tissues?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Sorry.**

Rose looks around for something, then takes off her sneaker. She pulls off a sock and hands hands it to her mother.

**ROSE**  
**Here. Use this.**

**JACKIE**  
**Your filthy sock? You want me to stick your filthy sock up my nose?**

**ROSE**  
**You have to stop the bleeding.**

**JACKIE**  
**I'm not using your sock. Give me your shirt and get me to a hospital. **

**ROSE**  
**You can't have my shirt.**

**JACKIE**  
**It's only a sweatshirt.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not wearing anything underneath. Just my bra.**

**JACKIE**  
**You went to class like that?**

**ROSE**  
**Mother.**

Jackie growls, then takes Rose's dirty sock and rams it up her nose.

**ROSE**  
**Are they following us?**

As if on cue, the van lurches forward after being rammed from behind. In the rear-view mirror, the Doctor sees three cars crammed with co-eds chasing them.

**DOCTOR**  
**More or less. **

**ROSE**  
**Ah! Go faster!**

**DOCTOR**  
**Working on it, dear.**

The Doctor veers across three lanes of traffic. Horns blare. One of the co-ed vehicles slams into a medium and its tires are destroyed.

**JACKIE**  
**Almighty!**

**ROSE**  
**Wait a minute, where's the other guy?**

**DOCTOR**  
**What other guy?**

They're rammed again.

**ROSE**  
**The guy who drove the van to our street.**

The Doctor pulls out the small handheld device from his pocket.

**DOCTOR**  
**Daga isn't the only one with remote controlled toys.**

**ROSE**  
**You have a remote controlled van?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Timeship, actually. The Tardis.**

**ROSE**  
**Looks like a Chevy.**

**DOCTOR**  
**The Telepathic Operational Camouflaged Cockpit, projects the image and functionality of something from this time and planet so it won't be detected. Plus, it's sort of a neat way to get around.**

The chase proceeds through a park, where the Doctor narrowly avoids smashing through a bench, then a lit fountain. The second co-ed car isn't so lucky and smashes through both, getting stuck in the fountain, leaving only one vehicle in pursuit.

**ROSE**  
**Can't we just fly away or something?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I said timeship, not aeroplane, or spaceship, or silver surfboard.**

**JACKIE**  
**Watch out!**

**ROSE**  
**Doctor!**

The Doctor veers to the left, narrowly avoiding a jogger then smashes through a fence, leading the van back out onto the road. He swerves again to avoid a dog-walker.

The chase continues through a McDonalds drive thru, over a curb, into the raised parking lot of a mall. The co-eds follow the Tardis all the way to the top floor, where the van stops just before smashing through a wall at the very edge of the building.

**DOCTOR**  
**Right, then.**

**JACKIE**  
**They're still behind us.**

**ROSE**  
**What are we going to do?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Well, that depends.**

**ROSE**  
**On what?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I think he'd still probably take five percent and Philly. We still down on that as an option?**

-To be Continued...-


	5. Chapter 5 - Making It Up As I Go

INT. WHITE VAN – NIGHT

Rose opens the glove box, looks under the seat, and all over.

**DOCTOR**  
**What are you doing?**

**ROSE**  
**Looking for a weapon.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I don't have any weapons.**

The Doctor's door opens. Samantha stands on the other side, flanked by a pair of FOOTBALL PLAYERS. She points a ray gun at the Doctor's head.

**SAMANTHA**  
**Fortunately, I do. Get out of the van.**

EXT. MALL PARKING LOT – NIGHT

Slowly, the Doctor, Rose, and Jackie climb out of the van.

**SAMANTHA**  
**On your knees.**

The football players "assist" the three of them to their knees.

**JACKIE**  
**I don't want to die.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You're not going to die.**

**JACKIE**  
**I'm too young to die.**

**ROSE**  
**No, ****_I'm_**** too young to die.**

**DOCTOR**  
**No one's going to die.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**You seem awfully sure of that for someone with a Rellian Disintegrator pointed at their head.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Actually, it's a Turoksa Annihilator. Common mistake. You can tell by the plate on the handle.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**No, it's not. It's a Rellian Disintegrator. I bought it from my cousin.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Then, your cousin fleeced you.**

**ROSE**  
**Must you antagonize the person holding the ray gun?**

**DOCTOR**  
**He's gonna kill us anyway.**

**JACKIE**  
**(cries)**  
**I don't want to die.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Shut up! Everyone, just shut up. Now, Doctor, how many more of you are there?**

**DOCTOR**  
**None.**

Rose elbows him.

**DOCTOR**  
**Ow.**

**ROSE**  
**Don't tell him that. If you tell him that, he can kill us and not worry about it.**

**DOCTOR**  
**But I am the only one. I'm the last Time Lord.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**Time Lord?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yeah.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**You're a Time Lord?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Guilty.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**But they're a myth.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You're standing on a planet with four billion people who don't believe in aliens.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**All right, fair point. Does that mean you have a timeship?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I do. The Tardis.**

The Doctor points to the van.

**SAMANTHA**  
**It looks like a Chevy.**

**ROSE**  
**Also a common mistake.**

**DOCTOR**  
**That's just the cockpit. It projects an image and functionality so it won't be noticed in this time.**

Samantha walks around, looks inside the front.

**SAMANTHA**  
**No, it's definitely a Chevy.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You have to go in the back if you want to see the rest.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**(skeptical)**  
**It's a trick. You're stalling again.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Maybe. Or maybe I'm telling the truth and this is a timeship. Surely a keen business mind like yours, one with such entrepreneurial verve, would have use for such a vessel; rig a few stock markets, jump on a few opportunities before anyone else. Think of all the selfish money you could make.**

**SAMANTHA**  
**If you're lying...**

The Doctor hops to his feet.

**DOCTOR**  
**Yeah, yeah, you're gonna kill me. Whatever. Don't be so glum, chum.**

He walks around the van and opens up the back.

**DOCTOR**  
**Come have a look-see.**

Everyone, even Rose and Jackie, walk around the van to look in the back. Inside, we see the Tardis Command Center. It's an enormous round room, with a centralized computer station in a loop around a cylindrical core that extends from floor to ceiling. The walls are flesh-colored, with bone-like support beams, giving the impression of the chest cavity of a living creature. The core hums with energy, like a heartbeat.

**JACKIE**  
**My goodness. What the hell is that?**

**DOCTOR**  
**The Tardis.**

**ROSE**  
**It's bigger on the inside.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes.**

**ROSE**  
**It's alien.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes.**

**ROSE**  
**And you're an alien?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Had we not established that already?**

**SAMANTHA**  
**It's real. It's really real. A real timeship. You will take me inside.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Of course.**

She points the gun at his head.

**SAMANTHA**  
**But no funny business.**

**DOCTOR**  
**That's okay. I'm not very funny. Come in. I'll make cookies.**

He walks inside, followed closely behind by Rose, Jackie, the two football players, and Samantha.

INT. TARDIS – CONTINUOUS

Everyone steps inside. Almost immediately, Samantha and the football players stop in their tracks. Their eyes shut and heads fall forward.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, who am I kidding? I'm hilarious.**

The Doctor takes out his sonic screwdriver and uses it to remove the Bluetooth pieces from each of the mind controlled students. As he does, each one collapses and he catches them to help them fall gracefully.

**ROSE**  
**What happened to them?**

**DOCTOR**  
**The Tardis exists partially outside the timestream. Whatever signal Daga was using to control your friends can't penetrate the time barrier. As soon as they stepped through, the signal dropped.**

**ROSE**  
**Are they okay?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Fine, yes. They'll wake up with a hell of a headache, like your David fellow, but that's about it. **

**ROSE  
His name is Mark.**

**DOCTOR  
Really? He looks like a Stephen. Jackie, please don't touch that.**

Jackie pulls her hand away from one of the consoles, like a child caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

**JACKIE**  
**I was just looking.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Look with your eyes, darling.**

The Doctor takes one of the Bluetooth pieces and carries it over to the command center console. He plugs it in somehow and punches in some information.

**DOCTOR**  
**Now, all I have to do is isolate the signal frequency and hopefully we can find from where Daga is broadcasting and shut him down.**

**JACKIE**  
**What do you mean "we"? I know you don't think you're dragging us into this, because "we", my daughter and I, what "we" are going to do is go back out there and call the cops.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Right, and what are you going to tell them? That an alien Donald Trump with a spider for a sister has brainwashed all of the students to help him take over the world? They're just as likely to lock you up if you told them that.**

**ROSE**  
**Mom, you can't.**

**JACKIE**  
**What? So, you're taking his side?**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not taking anyone's side.**

**JACKIE**  
**What do we even know about this guy? How do we know he's any better than that Daga person, or alien, or whatever?**

**ROSE**  
**He saved our lives.**

**JACKIE**  
**That doesn't prove anything. He could be just as dangerous as any of them. And now what? You want to take my daughter back there and do what? Take on Daga?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Someone's gotta stop him.**

**JACKIE**  
**Well, it doesn't have to be my Rose. Come on, Rose.**

Jackie grabs Rose's hand and pulls, but Rose stays where she is. Jackie looks back in shock.

**JACKIE**  
**I said, come on.**

**ROSE**  
**Mom, that's my friend laying over there on the ground. And Mark in our apartment.**

**JACKIE**  
**But Daga could kill you.**

**ROSE**  
**The Doctor will protect me.**

Rose looks back at the Doctor.

**ROSE**  
**You will protect me, won't you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'll do the best I can. I can't guarantee your safety. But I may need your help.**

**ROSE**  
**Not exactly helping me win the argument.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm not trying to win an argument. I'm trying to win a fight for the planet.**

Rose turns back to her mother. She squeezes Jackie's hand.

**ROSE**  
**You should go to Carol's house.**

**JACKIE**  
**Rose...**

**ROSE**  
**It's not safe back at the apartment. Get Mark and go to Carol's.**

Rose hugs Jackie.

**ROSE**  
**I'll find you when it's over.**

Jackie squeezes Rose tight, then points her finger at the Doctor.

**JACKIE**  
**If you let anything happen to my girl, I will-**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes, yes, all manner of hellfire will spew forth from my various bodily orifices - we've wasted enough time on this already, lady.**

The Doctor walks over and grabs one of the football player's arms.

**DOCTOR**  
**Someone gonna help me, here, or what?**

EXT. MALL PARKING LOT – NIGHT

The Doctor and Rose set Samantha's unconscious body down on the pavement. They then climb into the van.

INT. WHITE VAN – NIGHT

Jackie steps up to the window and hugs Rose again.

**JACKIE**  
**You be careful.**

**ROSE**  
**I'll be fine. I promise.**

They drive off. After a few seconds of silence, Rose turns to the Doctor.

**ROSE**  
**You do have a plan, right?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh yeah, a good one. Find the source of the signal, and take it out.**

**ROSE**  
**And how do we do that?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I don't know. I'm sort of making this up as I go.**

**ROSE**  
**Of course you are.**

- To be Continued -


	6. Chapter 6 - Are You Ready?

EXT. ROAD - ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – NIGHT

The white Tardis van pulls up. Reporters and a huge crowd has gathered just outside a perimeter setup by a police barrier.

INT. WHITE VAN – NIGHT

Rose and the Doctor eye the police barrier.

**ROSE**  
**It looks like every cop in Pennsylvania's here.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You saw the explosion. Something like that is bound to draw attention.**

**ROSE**  
**Exactly what we don't want.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Maybe.**

The Doctor fiddles with his sonic screwdriver.

**DOCTOR**  
**The source of Daga's mind control signal is coming from somewhere on campus.**

**ROSE**  
**Well, there's no way they're gonna let us just drive through. We'll have to find some way to sneak by.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Eh, I prefer the direct approach.**

The Doctor drives.

EXT. POLICE BARRIER – NIGHT

The Doctor drives the Tardis van right up to the barrier. An OFFICER approaches the van and stops them.

**OFFICER**  
**No entry. Turn it around.**

The Doctor rolls down the window and pulls out his wallet. He opens it and shows a blank form of ID to the officer.

**DOCTOR**  
**Good evening, Officer. I'm Special Agent Shatner of the Financial Bureau of Investigation.**

**ROSE**  
**(coughs)**  
**Federal.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Federal! Of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The F-B-I. That's me. I've got a witness, here. You can let me through.**

The officer inspects the ID. He waves to some men to move the barrier so the Doctor can drive through.

**OFFICER**  
**Oh, o-okay. Sorry about that, sir. Let them through!**

The Doctor takes back his ID and drives forward.

**ROSE**  
**Shatner?**

**DOCTOR**  
**(impersonating Shatner)**  
**Let's... go save the world... young Rose.**

Rose rolls her eyes.

EXT. PARKING LOT – ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – NIGHT

The Tardis van pulls into an empty parking lot away from the rest of the investigators. The Doctor parks, turns it off, and gets out. He holds the sonic screwdriver up and follows it like a compass. Rose follows.

**DOCTOR**  
**The signal is coming from this direction, I think.**

**ROSE**  
**You think?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Pretty sure, I guess. Look, it's not a precise thing. Or is it coming from that way over there?**

He turns around, perplexed.

**ROSE**  
**You're really not sure where it's coming from, are you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**The transmitter is definitely here, somewhere. On the planet, I mean. We're close. It's just... No. I'm not.**

Rose nods.

**ROSE**  
**What was that before? You just happened to have a fake FBI badge on you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Telepathic paper, showed him what he wanted to see. Same concept behind the Tardis cockpit.**

**ROSE**  
**Oh.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I suppose we could search all the buildings. That'll take time, though.**

**ROSE**  
**Are you like that, too?**

**DOCTOR**  
**What do you mean?**

**ROSE**  
**I mean... are you showing me what I want to see?**

**DOCTOR**  
**(smiles)**  
**Why? Like what you see?**

**ROSE**  
**You look human.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Or humans look like Time Lords.**

**ROSE**  
**But... you're not, like, secretly a giant slug or something, are you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Why? Would that bother you, if I was?**

**ROSE**  
**Maybe.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Well, rest easy. What you see is what you get, with me. So to speak. More or less, anyway. Pretty much.**

Rose nods.

**ROSE**  
**This transmitter we're looking for. What's it look like?**

**DOCTOR**  
**He's using it to transmit a signal to all the Bluetooth sets. Most likely, it would have to be high up, with some sort of antenna, possibly, or other highly conductive material.**

Rose looks at the buildings on campus and one in particular stands out... the chapel. She points to it.

**ROSE**  
**What about there?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Where?**

**ROSE**  
**Right there, the chapel.**

The Doctor turns and looks, sees the steeple with the giant metal cross at the top.

**DOCTOR**  
**Huh. Yeah, that would work.**

He runs towards it.

**ROSE**  
**Wait!**

EXT. CHAPEL – NIGHT

Rose chases him down just in front of the chapel's huge oak doors. She speaks softly.

**ROSE**  
**Wait a minute, Doctor. Shouldn't we have some sort of plan?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Right. Yes, a plan. What did you have in mind?**

**ROSE**  
**I don't know, I thought you'd have one.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I figure we go in through the front door, find the transmitter, and shut it down.**

**ROSE**  
**That's it?**

**DOCTOR**  
**No good?**

**ROSE**  
**What if he's got an army in there? What if he's got another Tuscan Annihilator or something?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Turoksa.**

**ROSE**  
**Shouldn't we at least sneak in?**

The massive oak doors to the chapel swing open to reveal twenty mind-controlled students waiting for them. The Doctor shrugs.

**DOCTOR**  
**No, I don't think sneaking in will work.**

They're grabbed and dragged inside.

EXT. CHAPEL BELL TOWER – NIGHT

Mind controlled students drag the Doctor and Rose upstairs to the bell tower. It's a half enclosed, half open air space with a giant bell in the center. Mr. Little/Daga is sitting in a lawn chair off to the side and operates a sophisticated computer that's been hard-wired into the superstructure.

**ROSE**  
**Mr. Little?**

Daga stands at their arrival and motions for his mind-controlled minions to have the Doctor and Rose pressed to their knees.

**DAGA**  
**My name is Daga. And Doctor, so nice of you to save me the effort of having to track you down. It's so very rare in this day and age to find a Doctor who still makes house calls.**

**DOCTOR**  
**We aim to please.**

Daga turns to some of the students.

**DAGA**  
**His timeship won't be far. Find it and bring it to me.**

About half of the students go in search of the timeship. The rest stay to guard the Doctor and Rose.

**DAGA**  
**Now, Doctor, I believe you owe someone an apology.**

Daga opens his mouth impossibly wide, and the Lowenstein spider-head crawls out. It crawls on top of Daga's head and sits, installing itself onto the top of Daga's skull.

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**You blew up my body! Do you have any idea how much those things cost?**

**ROSE**  
**You paid for a body and that's the one you picked?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Let me guess. Your cousin, again? Fleeced you again. I guess we know who's got the brains in your family.**

**DAGA**  
**Silence! My cousin doesn't have Earth. And he also doesn't have a timeship. When I'm through, he'll be lucky if I let him wipe the toilets in my castle. Now, save me the trouble and give me the location of the timeship. My students will find it soon enough, and then you will die.**

**DOCTOR**  
**That's not really a lot of incentive to help you, then, is it?**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**Kill him, Daga! Rip his arms off. Or better yet, rip her arms off and then beat him with them.**

**ROSE**  
**This is what I get for always doing my homework.**

**DOCTOR**  
**This planet doesn't belong to you, Daga.**

**DAGA**  
**Of course it does. It belongs to anyone capable of taking it. These pathetic humans have squandered one of the greatest gifts the universe has to offer: a resource-rich world.**

**DOCTOR**  
**It won't always be that way. One day, in the future, humanity will evolve into a great race and contribute so much to the universe. They will grow and learn and thrive as a tremendous confederation devoted to peace and prosperity. I've seen it. I've seen their destiny, and you know what else I've seen? Greedy, selfish, opportunistic men like you are not a part of it.**

**DAGA**  
**Well, then, I guess your history is about to change. Because the way I see it, I've already won. No one even knows I'm here. All I have to do is wait for their little investigation to finish, and for everyone to leave, and I can start distributing my headsets again. Before anyone knows what happened, I'll control the entire generation, revolutionize every industry, and there's no possible way for you to stop me.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, I wouldn't say that.**

The Doctor smiles. We see in his pocket a little blinking light.

EXT. PARKING LOT – ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – NIGHT

Mind-controlled students approach the Tardis white van when all of a sudden its headlights begin to blink and its horn blares. The engine turns over and it hops the curb, driving right by the students and straight for the chapel.

EXT. MOFFAT BUILDING – NIGHT

Police officers and investigators have the Moffat Building surrounded. The lead investigator is SPECIAL AGENT CANO(40), an actual FBI Agent with a chiseled jaw. He turns from his team when he hears the Tardis van's horn honking in the distance.

**CANO**  
**What's that sound? It's coming from over there.**

He points in the direction of the chapel and a large group of police officers and special agents break in that direction.

EXT. CHAPEL BELL TOWER – NIGHT

Daga hears the horn blaring and races to the bell tower railing. He sees the Tardis van driving straight for the chapel entrance.

**DAGA/LOWENSTEIN**  
**Noooo!**

EXT. CHAPEL – NIGHT

The Tardis van crashes through the large oak doors, making a tremendous commotion for all to hear.

INT. CHAPEL

Inside the small quaint chapel, the Tardis van crashes through pew after pew on its way to the altar at the front of the building. It crashes right through the altar and bashes its way entirely through the other side of the building. That's one tough van.

EXT. CHAPEL BELL TOWER – NIGHT

Daga runs to the other side and sees all the police headed their way to investigate the crash. Meanwhile, with Daga distracted, the Doctor seizes the moment. He wiggles free from the students and hops to his feet.

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose, cover your ears!**

Rose covers her ears as the Doctor runs over to the bell and drop kicks it. The sound is deafening, especially to the mind-controlled students and Daga/Lowenstein. They all scream. Next, the Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver and runs over to Daga's computer. He runs the screwdriver over the console, but Daga sees this and tackles him. The screwdriver goes flying.

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose, get the screwdriver! Use it on Daga's console!**

With the students still reeling from the bell noise, Rose crawls after the sonic screwdriver. On top of Daga's head, Lowenstein sees this and detaches herself. She jumps off his head and scuttles across the floor, reaching the sonic screwdriver just before Rose. The spider-head lady scoops it up with her mouth.

**ROSE**  
**No, you don't!**

Rose grabs the spider-head by one of its metal feet. One of the students recovers enough to grab Rose by one of her feet. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Daga fight by the railing.

**DOCTOR**  
**It's over, Daga. They'll be here any minute. You know what they'll do to you when they realize you're an alien? They'll dissect you into itty bitty pieces.**

**DAGA**  
**You fool! We could have been partners. We could have been friends, companions. I offered you a piece of the entire planet and more wealth than you could possibly imagine. Now, you've ruined it. For what? So you can continue to travel through time, imparting your own brand of self-righteous justice on others, miserable and alone for all eternity?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'll tell you something once told to me by a good friend of mine, Daga; it's better to experience an eternity alone than at the feet of a tyrant.**

The Doctor punches Daga in the gut, then grabs the man by the back of the head and slams him temple first into the railing.

On the other side of the bell, Rose kicks the student who has her foot. The other students have regained their composure and try to tackle her, but the Doctor runs over and throws his body across them, knocking them over like bowling pins.

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**(mumbles)**  
**Let me go!**

Rose fights Lowenstein's spider-head, trying to simultaneously hold on to one of her eight legs and yank the sonic screwdriver from the woman's mouth.

**ROSE**  
**Give it to me!**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**(mumbles)**  
**No!**

**ROSE**  
**Give it!**

**LOWENSTEIN**  
**(mumbles)**  
**No!**

Behind them, the Doctor is repeatedly punched and kicked by eight different students.

**DOCTOR**  
**Any time now, Rose!**

**ROSE**  
**Forget this.**

Abandoning all restraint, Rose grabs the one spider-leg with both hands and repeatedly bashes Lowenstein's head into Daga's computer console, over and over, again and again, until the former Professor is finally knocked silly and the screwdriver falls out of her mouth. Rose picks it up and uses it on the console. It sparks, groans, and powers down.

With the signal disabled, the students beating up the Doctor stop and fall to the ground, unconscious. Rose helps him up. He nurses his wounds.

**DOCTOR**  
**Good work. Fairly. I mean, two minutes earlier would've been 'great' work.**

**ROSE**  
**I did my best. The police will be here any minute. What do we do with them?**

The Doctor looks around at Daga, Lowenstein, the alien tech, and the students.

**DOCTOR**  
**We leave them.**

**ROSE**  
**A spider-lady, her alien brother, and all their gizmos? Are you sure they're ready for this? I mean, the human race doesn't know about aliens.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Are ****_you_**** ready for this?**

He takes her hand and walks her to the railing. He climbs up.

**ROSE**  
**What are you doing?!**

**DOCTOR**  
**We want to be ten variations of gone when they get here. The Tardis is down there. We need to jump.**

Rose looks over the edge, sees the Tardis van parked along the side of the building. She also sees that the police are almost on top of them.

**ROSE**  
**Are you crazy? We can't survive that jump.**

**DOCTOR**  
**The Tardis will catch us. But we haven't a lot of time. I need you to trust me.**

Rose swallows, obviously nervous. The Doctor waits for her decision.

**ROSE**  
**But how's it going to catch us?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I don't have time to explain how it works. We have to leap, now, if we're going to get out of here.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm going to regret this.**

She climbs the railing and they leap together over the side. They fall right over the van and Rose screams the entire way. The Doctor laughs.

-To be Continued-


	7. Chapter 7 - Holding On

EXT. CHAPEL BELL TOWER – NIGHT

Rose and the Doctor fall from the top of the bell tower over the top of the van. They're just about to go SPLAT when...

INT. TARDIS

The Doctor and Rose materialize inside the belly of the Tardis, on their backs, safe on the ground. He laughs. She takes a moment to realize where she is before she stops screaming.

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes! I forgot how much fun that was!**

He stands and offers her a hand.

**DOCTOR**  
**Come on, that's enough with the screaming.**

**ROSE**  
**How did? It's magic.**

**DOCTOR**  
**It's better. It's science! Now, hold on.**

The Doctor walks over to the Tardis controls and throws a lever.

EXT. ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – NIGHT

With no one in the driver's seat, and the police fast approaching, the Tardis van makes a break for it.

INT. FBI CAR – NIGHT

Agent Cano, in the passenger's seat, notices the Tardis van.

**CANO**  
**There! Go after it!**

The driver, Special Agent Rebecca WEBB (32), executes a hard turn in pursuit of the driverless van. Cano pulls out a walkie-talkie.

**CANO**  
**(into walkie talkie)**  
**All units, I have visual on a white Chevy proceeding south-southwest from the chapel. We are in pursuit, requesting backup, over.**

He points.

**CANO**  
**Gun it, Webb!**

She floors it.

EXT. VARIOUS LOCATIONS – ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – NIGHT

Cano's car and a handful of police vehicles pursue the van around the campus. The van hops a curb and drives straight towards a line of trees near a stream. An odd sound emanates from the van, like the turning and grinding of ethereal gears. The van makes a hard turn down an embankment and disappears from sight for a half-second.

Cano's car makes the same turn, but by the time they clear the embankment, the van has disappeared.

INT. FBI CAR

Cano and Webb look out the window and in all directions.

**WEBB**  
**What the hell? Where did it go?**

**CANO**  
**I... dammit!**

Cano slams the dashboard in defeat.

**CANO**  
**(into walkie talkie)**  
**Does anybody see them?**

**RADIO VOICE 1 (V.O.)**  
**Negative, over.**

**RADIO VOICE 2 (V.O.)**  
**Negative. We have lost visual contact, over.**

Cano sits back.

**REGISTER (V.O.)**  
**Agent Register to Special Agent Cano, please respond, over.**

**CANO**  
**(into walkie talkie)**  
**This is Cano.**

**REGISTER (V.O.)**  
**Sir, I'm back at the chapel. I've secured the location. There's some things here you've got to see. I'd rather not explain over the comm. Over.**

Cano and Webb share a confused glance.

EXT. PARKING LOT - TENNANT APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT

In a dimly lit parking lot behind the building, we hear the same ethereal gear turning we heard just before the Tardis van disappeared. This time, though, the van fades INTO existence comfortably in one of the empty parking spots.

Before long, the rear doors open and Rose and the Doctor emerge. She marvels at where they are.

**ROSE**  
**Unbelievable.**

**DOCTOR**  
**That's an odd thing to say. You were there. Now, you're here. You can see that, breath the air. What makes it hard to believe?**

He climbs into the driver's seat and turns the engine over.

**ROSE**  
**Wait. You're just going to leave me? Just like that?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yep.**

He drives a few yards, slams on the brakes, then backs up.

**DOCTOR**  
**Unless, of course, you wanted to come with me.**

**ROSE**  
**Come with you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yeah. Daga may have been a greedy, egomaniacal, sociopath hellbent on world domination, but he was right about one thing; I am alone. And you sorta kinda proved somewhat useful a couple times back there.**

**ROSE**  
**Somewhat useful?**

**DOCTOR**  
**(smiles)**  
**A couple times. And you have a good heart.  
**

She melts a little.

**ROSE**  
**I don't know...**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yeah. You know, I understand. You just put yourself through school. You've got history teaching to do. That's your passion. And that's great. I mean, it's not as if I have a timeship or anything, capable of going anywhere, anytime, in all of history. That probably wouldn't interest someone like you.**

**ROSE**  
**You're trying to tempt me. What about my family?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Sorry, the offer's just for one. But, it's a timeship. We can go on as many adventures as you'd like, and I can put you right back here. It'd be like you never left. Think about it. Go graduate. I'll come back for you.**

He drives off. She considers her options.

EXT. PARKING LOT – ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY – DAY

The chapel bell rings. We're back where we started as Rose, Jackie, and Mark load Jackie's mini-van with the contents of Rose's dorm room. Rose loads her suitcase into the back when she becomes distracted by the radio. She runs around to the front seat and turns the volume up.

**REPORTER (V.O.)**  
**...with the latest on the St. Joseph's University bombing. Reports from local officials indicate that they are not currently pursuing criminal charges against the twenty-five students involved in the Order of Vox Cult, and that the students will instead receive psychological rehabilitation. Charges, including one count of murder for the death of Professor Jillian Lowenstein, will be brought against cult leader Nial Little who was apparently employed by the school just last year. State officials are calling into question the school's background checks of Mr. Little, but no further indictments have been made. To sports we go as the Phillies lost again last night...**

Rose smiles.

**JACKIE (O.S.)**  
**Hey, lady, did you want a sandwich with your break? Maybe a cup of soup?**

Rose rolls her eyes and steps out of the mini-van, but stops in her tracks as she sees something in the distance. Jackie, spotting her daughter's odd expression, looks in the direction of Rose's glance. There, across the road, is the Doctor, leaning against the Tardis white van. He smiles in Rose's direction.

**ROSE**  
**He came back for me. Just like he said he would.**

**JACKIE**  
**Oh, no. No, not with that man. Not again.**

**ROSE**  
**Mom.**

**JACKIE**  
**No, it's not right. He's dangerous. You can't.**

Rose gently touches both of Jackie's arms.

**ROSE**  
**Mom.**

Jackie recognizes the futility in arguing with her and the two share an embrace. Rose tries to pull away several times, but Jackie refuses to let go. Finally, Mark comes over and Jackie lets go and walks away.

**MARK**  
**What's going on? Why's she crying?**

**ROSE**  
**It's nothing to worry about.**

She kisses him. It takes him by surprise, but he likes it.

**MARK**  
**Wow, what was that for?**

**ROSE**  
**I'm going to miss you.**

**MARK**  
**Miss me? I'm coming over tonight. I'm going to see you in four hours.**

**ROSE**  
**Right. It's just going to seem longer. How's the head?**

**MARK**  
**Should be good. You're sure your mother doesn't want me to pay for that vase? I feel bad. Oh god, that's not why she's crying is it? Was it, like, an heirloom or something?**

**ROSE**  
**Don't worry about it.**

**MARK**  
**All right. I'll see you later.**

**ROSE**  
**Great. Bye.**

**MARK**  
**Bye, love.**

Mark walks away. Rose turns and looks at the Doctor, who still stands next to the Tardis van across the street. She remains unaware of the fact that, not too far away, Future Rose and the Doctor debate her fate.

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**I asked you a question.**

The Doctor watches Rose's younger self skip happily towards the other version of himself. They both look happy, excited for the adventures that await them. But in front of him, he sees what those adventures have done to Rose, how weary she's become. There's guilt in his eyes.

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**Will you remember me? Will you miss me?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Of course, I'll remember you, and I'll miss you.**

She melts a little.

**DOCTOR**  
**… Just like I remember and miss all the wonderful people I've met throughout history and throughout the universe.**

She sulks, deeply hurt. She turns away from him.

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm sorry if I ever hurt you, Rose.**

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**Forget it.**

**DOCTOR**  
**There's not a lot of time. Your younger self is about to go with me, him. This is your last chance to erase our time together. If you don't want to remember us, save yourself, now.**

Back across the street, the Doctor and young Rose get in the van.

**ROSE**  
**(smiling)**  
**Anywhere I want to go?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Anywhere and anywhen.**

He turns the key in the ignition and puts the van in drive.

**VOICE (O.S.)**  
**Wait! Waaaaait!**

He hits the brake.

**ROSE**  
**Who was that?**

They both look, but don't see anyone. Suddenly, Jackie's head appears at young Rose's window. She jumps, startled, then rolls down the window.

**JACKIE**  
**Just one more hug.**

Rose smiles and hugs her mother through the window. Jackie points at the Doctor.

**JACKIE**  
**I swear to you, if anything happens to her.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yeah, yeah, you'll rip me apart. Got it.**

**JACKIE**  
**Love you, Rose.**

**ROSE**  
**Love you.**

The white Tardis van drives off and turns down a deserted back road. We hear the signature ethereal gears sound.

Meanwhile, Future Rose turns back to face her own Doctor. She looks practically stoic.

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**Goodbye, Doctor.**

She turns and runs right for Jackie. The Doctor watches her go, sad.

**FUTURE ROSE**  
**Mom! Mooom!**

**JACKIE**  
**Rose?**

Future Rose cries when she reaches her mother. The two hug.

The Doctor turns away from the reunion. He walks slowly around the corner and approaches a second white Tardis van. He enters through the back.

INT. TARDIS

Forlorn and alone, the Doctor steps up to the Tardis command console. It hums like a heartbeat and is the only sound in the room. He puts his hands over the console, preparing to enter in a new time and destination, but stops. He doesn't know where, or when, to go.

Or does he?

EXT. GOVERNMENT BUILDING – NIGHT

A barbed wire fence and well-armed security patrols guard a secret government facility in parts unknown. There's a helipad on the roof of the six-story office building and enough security to guard the President of the Unites States.

INT. ELEVATOR – GOVERNMENT BUILDING

Special Agent Cano and Agent Webb ride the elevator down to level "LL10", a number five full levels below the last button available to push on the elevator controls.

INT. LL10 – GOVERNMENT BUILDING

Elevator doors open on the basement floor, an enormous open area, like an underground warehouse, but with a network of honeycomb-like sterile holding and laboratory cells. There are lab stations setup where various scientists inspect and try to reverse-engineer some of Daga's equipment from the chapel bell tower.

Cano and Webb walk through the center aisle, then turn toward a small cluster of the honeycomb-shaped cells. A scientist, Dr. AMELIA FROST (50s), meets them.

**CANO**  
**Report.**

**FROST**  
**We've kept the new arrivals under heavy sedation. There was some concern about which dosage levels to administer to the, uh, woman, considering she's just a head. She ended up taking about one hundred cc's.**

**WEBB**  
**That's enough to put down a bull elephant.**

**FROST**  
**She's definitely a feisty one. We can't make heads or tails of her physiology. She doesn't appear to have any internal organs, which makes sense, but that doesn't explain how she's alive.**

They arrive at two cells isolated from each other by a four-foot thick white wall. Each cell is sealed by a see-through pane of impenetrable plastic. Inside the cells are Daga and Lowenstein, both asleep and restrained with medical equipment hooked up to them.

**CANO**  
**What about our "Mr. Little"?**

**FROST**  
**Very similar to the woman, actually, at least at the cellular level, and except for the body, of course. We'll know more when we've had a chance to run more tests.**

**WEBB**  
**Incredible. Real life aliens.**

Cano sighs.

**CANO**  
**And what about the third one?**

Frost turns and escorts the agents to a third cell.

**FROST**  
**His condition remains unchanged. I performed an MRI on his brain, but I'll be damned if I understand it. His vitals are strong, both of his hearts are pumping good, and there's plenty of brain activity. I can't find any reason why he shouldn't be awake and talking to us.**

**CANO**  
**And no one has any theories as to why he's still unconscious?**

**FROST**  
**It could be some sort of voluntary coma to avoid interrogation, but, honestly, hell if I know.**

Cano peers through the third cell's viewing wall at the patient/inmate within.

**CANO**  
**Holding onto your secrets, are you?**

Just like Daga and Lowenstein, this third subject is also asleep, restrained, and hooked up to various medical equipment. Of greater interest, though, is the identity of the third subject...

… The Doctor!

END CREDITS ROLL

- End Pilot – Serial, To be Continued -


	8. Chapter 8 - Episode 2 Intro

INT. TARDIS

The Doctor gleefully adjusts the Tardis controls. Rose observes, but it's clear from her expression, she's having trouble following.

**DOCTOR**  
**Backwards, forwards, backwards, forwards. Everything's in play. Time is our oyster. Pearls, no that's clams. Whatever, they're everywhere. And all you have to do is pick a star in the sky. Not so bad, is it?**

**ROSE**  
**You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Best job in the world. So, where should we go? Anywhere you want, anywhen you want.**

**ROSE**  
**How about 1776? The signing of the Declaration of Independence.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Really? A billion worlds out there, all of time to explore, and you want to hop back a few steps on the same little pebble where you were born and raised? Who am I, Mr. Peabody?  
**

**ROSE**  
**Mr. who?  
**

**DOCTOR**  
**I prefer, Doctor. Ba-zing! But seriously, if we're gonna stick with Earth, we can at least get a little creative. Ah-ha! I've got an idea. If you like the Declaration of Independence, then you're going to adore the Independence from Declaration!**

He flips a lever and the Tardis whooshes through time. The central core glows bright, then winds down, presumably after having come to a stop.

**ROSE**  
**Is that it?**

**DOCTOR**  
**What do you want, fireworks? We just traveled thousands of years into the future. How is that not impressive?**

**ROSE**  
**Okay, you don't have to get all persnickety about it. What's outside? Where are we?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Take a look.**

He points at the door. She smiles and approaches cautiously.

INT. DOCKING PORT 212 - SPACE STATION NEW ROME

With a hiss, a bay door swings open. Rose steps through and into a large chamber with golden walls and blinding light that radiates from hovering white crystals overhead. She squints and holds her hand to her face to shield her eyes.

**ROSE**  
**Whoa.**

The Doctor steps inside.

**DOCTOR**  
**Yowza, that's bright. Lights down, fifty-percent.**

The lights dim by half and to tolerable levels. Rose opens her eyes again and admires the gem-studded golden walls and the crystals overhead, but something else catches her attention even more; a thirty foot by nine foot view port that shows a spectacular view of the Earth... from space!

**ROSE**  
**We-we're...**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yup.**

**ROSE**  
**And that's...**

**DOCTOR**  
**Mmhmm. Earth, the year 12,005, as seen from docking port 212 of Space Station New Rome. **

Rose approaches the view port and admires the various spaceships which flutter about the crustacean-shaped space station. She screams with glee.

**ROSE**  
**I'm in space!**

She grabs the Doctor's hands and dances around. He smiles, admiring her joy. He even offers a half-hearted hop of his own.

**DOCTOR**  
**Hooray.**

Across the room, a second door hisses open and GRIZZY, a blue man wearing peacock feathers woven into a diamond gown, scuttles inside. He appears rather nervous.

**GRIZZY**  
**Oh my, oh dear. Who are you, then? You're not the Excream Delegates. You're not. That's not you.**

**DOCTOR**  
**It's all right, um, who are you?**

**ROSE**  
**He's blue.**

Rose giggles.

**GRIZZY**  
**I am Grand Auctioneer Grizzy, and you are not supposed to be here. Please, turn around, get back in your ship, before any of the other delegates complain. The Excream can be very ungracious.**

The Doctor pulls out his telepathic ID and shows it to Grizzy.

**DOCTOR**  
**I think you'll find, sir, that we very much are supposed to be here.**

Grizzy double inspects the ID.

**GRIZZY**  
**Oh. Oh. But, you... and she... excuse me, you're just so... inelegant.**

**ROSE**  
**Inelegant?**

**GRIZZY**  
**Well, your clothes... and your makeup... and your hair. You're positively frumpy.**

**ROSE**  
**I am not frumpy!  
**

The Doctor steps in between Rose and Grizzy.

**DOCTOR**  
**You'll have to excuse us. It's been a very long trip. I assure you, we'll be elegant as all can be when the time calls for it. And that would be when and where exactly?**

**GRIZZY**  
**Of course, my apologies. The declaration process will begin in one hetma in the grand observatory, of course, through those doors, up the shaft, to the top level.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Fantastic. And, uh, just between you and me, Grizzy ole chap, ole friend o' mine, what are you hearing through the vents about inside bids, if you know what I mean?**

The Doctor slips Grizzy a few gold coins. Grizzy looks around the sneaks them into his pocket.

**GRIZZY**  
**Well, I'm not supposed to say, but dillzens unloading at bay six overheard Lady of Olefew has her eye on some slaves.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Think she has a chance?**

Grizzy winks, then scuttles out.

**ROSE**  
**What was that about?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Can't be totally sure, but it sounds like all of humanity's about to be sold into slavery.**

She looks appalled. He shrugs.

**DOCTOR**  
**No sense fretting about it. We have got to get you fabulous.**

He drags her back into the Tardis.

-OPENING CREDITS ROLL-

-To be Continued...-


	9. Chapter 9 - Alien Elegance

INT. CHANGING CLOSET VORTEX – TARDIS

Inside a semi-circular room are clothes from centuries and planets long lost to time, and some that don't yet exist. The eclectic collection sits together on hangars on a bronze rail that curves with the far wall. Underneath are rows and rows of shoes, some paired, some sets of three or even up to eight. A spider's shoes?

In the center of the room is a free-standing white metal frame, like a door frame, with a dull electric mesh hanging from it. On one side of it, connected by wires, stands a funnel shaped cylinder that gets wider at the top.

The Doctor brings Rose inside, and she is instantly enamored.

**ROSE**  
**Oh. My god. My mother would die.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Hm. We should bring her one day.**

She smacks him playfully. She walks over to the bronze rail and admires some of the clothes.

**ROSE**  
**These are amazing.**

She pulls a hangar with skimpy Egyptian kilt-like garment for men called a shendyt. She raises one eyebrow.

**DOCTOR**  
**Ah, I wore that while performing a play with an Egyptian theater group for Cleopatra.**

**ROSE**  
**You were in a play?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Really? I name-drop Cleopatra and the fact that I was in a play is what interests you?**

**ROSE**  
**What was the play about?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Not much of a story. It was more just an excuse to have a bunch of men twirling about. She found it amusing. Really, though? Cleopatra. Nothing?**

Rose shrugs and moves on to some interesting blue dresses with matching heels.

**ROSE**  
**Um, so, what's this about, then? Hm?**

The Doctor swallows nervously.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, well, those, right.**

Rose pulls one of the dresses from the rack. It's a gorgeous sequined navy gown.

**ROSE**  
**It's gorgeous. I love the color. I couldn't imagine a more beautiful thing.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I, yes, you know, I don't recall exactly when I might have... worn... that.**

He tries to take it from her, but she pulls it away to admire some more in front of a mirror. She presses it against her figure to imagine herself in it.

**ROSE**  
**Stunning.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You know what, it was probably... There's a planet in the Grenchian system where the gender roles are very much reversed from what you find on Earth. That was probably it. I must have worn it, then. It's hard to remember when I wore what.**

Confused, Rose takes the dress and presses it against the Doctor. Where it appears to be a perfect fit for her, it's clearly way too small for him.

**ROSE**  
**I don't think so.**

He takes the dress from her and hangs it back up.

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes, well, this is all very distracting, but we need to get you into something more appropriate for this place and this time. If you could just walk over here.**

**ROSE**  
**It's okay, you know.**

**DOCTOR**  
**What?**

**ROSE**  
**I didn't think I was the first.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You didn't?**

**ROSE**  
**Of course not. It must get lonely traveling through time all by yourself. It doesn't shock me that you'd seek out... companionship.**

**DOCTOR**  
**It doesn't?**

**ROSE**  
**No.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh. Yes, well, as I was saying, if you could just step over here.**

He motions for her to step over to the frame. He punches in some information into a small control panel on the side of it and the electric mesh begins to glow.

**DOCTOR**  
**The year is 12,005, and we are on Space Station New Rome, and we need something truly, absolutely, elegant for the time. Now, we just feed the machine some material...**

He walks over to the rack and pulls from it a horrible plaid thing that someone somewhere might've called a jumpsuit. He rolls it up into a ball and pushes it into the funnel next to the frame. A bell dings as the funnel gobbles up the material.

**DOCTOR**  
**Now, just step through.**

She hesitates.

**DOCTOR**  
**Go on, it's not going to hurt you.**

Rose takes a breath and steps through the frame. The mesh bends around her form and into the shape of an incredibly ostentatious powder blue gown with a pyramidal skirt and frilly lace along all the edges. Her blonde hair is instantly tied up into a high bun and makeup is applied to her face to accentuate her cheekbones. She looks in the mirror and is appalled.

**ROSE**  
**Oh, it's hideous. Awesome machine, but hideous. Do I have to wear this?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes. It's elegant, or at least what aliens in the year 12,005 refer to as elegant. It'll do. Now, I just have to find something for me.**

He scans the rack for another piece of clothing he doesn't care for anymore, then pushes it into the funnel.

While she waits, Rose sulks and picks at some of the lace. A piece tears off and she hides it behind her back before he notices, embarrassed.

**ROSE**  
**So, um, who was she?**

The Doctor steps through the mesh and ends up looking like a variation on an English gentleman from the colonial era, but with considerably more animal fur accenting his costume.

**DOCTOR**  
**Who was who?**

**ROSE**  
**The woman who wore that dress? I mean, I don't know how this contraption works or anything, but I gather you haven't shredded the gown for a reason. She must have been very important to you.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes, yes she was.**

**ROSE**  
**So, who was she?**

**DOCTOR**  
**… Just someone who looked very nice in blue.**

Rose nods, letting it drop... for now. She looks down at the powder blue dress she's wearing.

**ROSE**  
**I bet she would've loved this monstrosity, then. Huh?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Maybe.**

He extends his arm to her, like a gentleman.

**DOCTOR**  
**Shall we?**

Rose smiles and wraps her arm around his.

**ROSE**  
**Let's.**

They leave, arm in arm.

INT. GRAND OBSERVATORY – SPACE STATION NEW ROME

The Grand Observatory is like an arboretum and ballroom all in one at the very top of Space Station New Rome. Exotic moss-covered marble trees hold up the glass dome, like Corinthian pillars. Outside, the giant blue Earth rotates like a majestic gem, a stark contrast against the backdrop of black space.

Alien delegations of various shapes and configurations huddle together around banquet tables, or mingle with representatives from other delegations on the meeting floor in the middle. A stage is setup with a podium, like an auction house, but with giant holo-screens on either side with population and resource information pertaining to Earth.

Off to one side is the elevator shaft, one of the only ways in or out. Grizzy, the greeter and Grand Auctioneer, stands by the shaft and announces delegates as they arrive.

**GRIZZY**  
**From the Balhoon Forest Preserve of Cree, Summer Palm Jabe, and company Flower and Grass.**

JABE is a tree-woman with alternating striations of light and dark bark for skin. Her servants, FLOWER and GRASS, grow out of her body in a symbiotic relationship, and also serve as her clothing.

**GRIZZY**  
**From the Corporate Planets of the Argolis Cluster, the Lady of Olefew, Cassandra, with Jax, Bix, Rix, and Sax.**

The Lady of Olefew, CASSANDRA, arrives with quadruplet slaves, JAX, BIX, RIX, and SAX. She is stunning to behold, and glows from within, which is evident thanks to her semi-translucent skin. She is bald, with a smooth face and head, and only small orifices where her ears and nose should be. She wears a white silk robe that hugs her lack of curves. Her slaves all look practically human, but with yellow skin. They are dressed only in loincloths to show off their jagged muscles.

**GRIZZY**  
**The Cybermen of the Constructor Union.**

CYBERMEN, four of them, highly advanced androids of ergonomic design.

**GRIZZY**  
**Mobbles and The Head, of the Excream.**

Mobbles is a shifty looking child and he carries The Head, a spidery-looking thing, in a jar.

**GRIZZY**  
**The Doctor and Rose Taylor, representatives of The Net Reality Television Programming.**

They smile as they step from the shaft and into the observatory.

**ROSE**  
**(to the Doctor)**  
**We're reality tv producers?**

**DOCTOR**  
**The ID showed him what he wanted to see. Evidently, Grizzy has stars in his eyes.**

**GRIZZY**  
**Thank you, everyone. The auction is due to begin in a few minutes. Please, take this opportunity to greet those around you in the interests of peaceful negotiation.**

Everyone mingles. Rose looks to the Doctor.

**DOCTOR**  
**You can go.**

Like a little kid, she wanders off to explore.

**DOCTOR**  
**Just don't eat anything until you ask me first.**

Jabe, the tree-woman, approaches the Doctor.

**JABE**  
**Greetings, Doctor.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Greetings, madam. Might I say, you're looking quite elegant.**

**JABE**  
**As are you. I had not expected members of The Net to have any interest in Earth. It's such a young species.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes, well, we're always on the lookout for new children's programming. Got to get them while they're young.**

**JABE**  
**Then, your interests are only speculative?**

**DOCTOR**  
**And what would your interests in the planet be, Jabe?**

**JABE**  
**Fertile soil, a salvageable environment, pre-interstellar revolutionary society, and a star with more than a billion years of life left in it. I don't think I need to tell you how rare that can be in this universe.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You're looking to bid to have Earth declared an environmental preserve?**

**JABE**  
**Where trees and wildlife can grow freely and protected from interstellar industrialization.**

**GRASS**  
**And grass...**

**FLOWER**  
**And flowers...**

**JABE**  
**We were just thinking what a marvelous opportunity that would be for you and your network.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Were you, now?**

**JABE**  
**Yes. Think of it, an entire station devoted to the evolution and drama of nature.**

ELSEWHERE: Rose observes Earth through the looking glass when she is tapped on the shoulder by Sax, one of Cassandra's slaves. Cassandra stands next to him, and the other three quadruplets stand behind her.

**ROSE**  
**Oh, hello.**

**CASSANDRA**  
**You are a human female?**

**ROSE**  
**Um, yes. And what race are you?**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Are all the females of your race so unimpressive?**

**ROSE**  
**Excuse me?**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Your features, they are inelegant.**

**ROSE**  
**Yes, well, sticks and stones may break my bones.**

Rose turns away.

**CASSANDRA**  
**So, your race is frail as well. That is good to know. We'll have to genetically modify the DNA to account for those deficiencies.**

**ROSE**  
**Bye.**

Clearly annoyed, Rose begins to walk away when Sax grabs her arm and keeps her from leaving.

**ROSE**  
**Let go, or I'm putting you on the ground.**

**SAX**  
**You were not given permission to leave m'lady's audience.**

**ROSE**  
**I don't need permission. She pissed me off, so I'm leaving.**

**CASSANDRA**  
**You have misunderstood my intentions. My assessment of your race was not meant as an insult.**

**ROSE**  
**That's right. You're just sizing up the merchandise before you put in your bid. Seeing what work needs to be done before you flip us for something nicer. Fresh coat of paint in the dining room, new tile work in the bathroom, maybe finish the basement, then sell us all off as slaves.**

**CASSANDRA**  
**A simple appraisal. What does it matter to you? You've clearly done well for yourself, though you could use some surgery to streamline your look. Some electrolysis to destroy all those pesky hair follicles leftover from your varmint ancestors. All it would take from there is a few surgeries to cut off your ears, flatten your nose, and excise those hideous breasts. Then, you'll be truly elegant.**

**ROSE**  
**My breasts...!**

Many nearby overhear when Rose's voice gets a little on the loud side. Recognizing this, she lowers her voice.

**ROSE**  
**I like my ears, nose, and breasts right where they are and how they are, thank you very much, and anyone who would be stupid enough to chop theirs off to look like some... some... androgynous poltergeist is the very opposite of elegant, you vain little glow-worm.**

She shakes loose from Sax's grip and storms off... then back over.

**ROSE**  
**And for the record, if you had breasts like mine, you wouldn't have to buy your men.**

She storms off again. Cassandra huffs.

**CASSANDRA**  
**Scamp.**

MEANWHILE: The Doctor's conversation with Jabe seems to be going better than Rose's.

**DOCTOR**  
**Sure, everyone says they love nature, getting back to nature, but how many people actually put their money where their mouth is and sit back and watch it on tv? Not many.**

**JABE**  
**But think of the drama of it all. Which roots will hold up to the mighty hurricane? Where will the winds blow the next forest fire?**

**FLOWER**  
**Which flower will bloom the longest and brightest?**

**GRASS**  
**Which blade will stand the tallest?**

**JABE**  
**Life, against all odds, fights to flourish.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Always does.**

**JABE**  
**And together, we could combine our bids, and have Earth declared the largest preserve this side of the Wek'a Nebula.**

The Doctor is distracted when he sees Rose storm off in a hurry, visibly upset. He follows.

**DOCTOR**  
**If you'll just excuse me.**

Jabe eyes him as he goes. From across the room, she makes eye contact with Cassandra and shakes her head. Cassandra frowns her displeasure.

INT. MAINTENANCE BAY

Rose storms into the maintenance bay, what amounts to an excessively large janitor's supply closet at the rear of the Grand Observatory. There are buckets with mops, waste bins, supplies, an incinerator and THREE DILLZENS, human-ish pink-skinned maintenance workers. They're sitting around a large crate eating scraps they apparently stole from the kitchen. They look at her, afraid they've been caught.

**ROSE**  
**Don't mind me.**

She sneaks behind some shelves and over to the only window far in the back, a small round port hole like the one you might find on a cruise ship. She overturns a bucket and sits on it as she stares out the window.

The Doctor follows her inside. He immediately points to the dillzens.

**DOCTOR**  
**You three, out.**

They follow his instructions and scurry out.

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose?**

**ROSE (O.S.)**  
**Back here.**

He follows the sound of her voice. When he finds her, he approaches and leans against the wall, watching her stare out the window.

**ROSE**  
**They're all so alien.**

**DOCTOR**  
**They are aliens.**

**ROSE**  
**It's not just that, it's... I mean, they don't all speak English, do they?**

**DOCTOR**  
**No. The Tardis translates their language and yours so we can understand each other.**

**ROSE**  
**Right.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Is that a problem?**

**ROSE**  
**I mean... it looks like a ballroom. It's business as usual for them. And I hear them, and I understand them, but it's all just an illusion, isn't it? Even you. The truth is, I don't know what I'm doing here. I don't know who any of them are, or what's going on, and I don't know who you are.**

**DOCTOR**  
**If you did, you'd know everything, and you can't know that.**

**ROSE**  
**You do.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I most certainly do not.**

**ROSE**  
**Sure you do. You have a time machine. I bet you know just what's going to happen here, don't you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**No, no, no.**

**ROSE**  
**Sure you do. I bet you know who wins the auction, don't you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Only an idea.**

**ROSE**  
**But it's already happened for you.**

**DOCTOR**  
**In a way. We're here now. That means things have changed. Just our presence.**

**ROSE**  
**See, I bet you even understand what the hell you're talking about. I sure don't.**

The Doctor takes a breath as he surveys the room. He sees an elastic band on one of the shelves and grabs it. He then takes a pair of scissors and cuts it. He offers one end to her and he holds the other end.

**DOCTOR**  
**Take it.**

She does.

**DOCTOR**  
**Time is elastic. There are only two fixed points, the beginning and the end.**

He points to the two ends of the elastic band, one held by her and one held by him.

**DOCTOR**  
**No matter what happens in between, nothing will ever change the beginning of time or the end. Now, in the center, time is very pliable.**

He touches the center of the band, and it stretches up and down, side to side.

**DOCTOR**  
**That's how time changes. And just our being here, bends it, moves it around. The closer you get to either the beginning of time or the end of time, the harder it is to make big changes, which is also why it's harder to travel to points in time closer to the beginning or end, and impossible to travel to the exact beginning or end.**

**ROSE**  
**So, you don't know what's going to happen because we're here now and we weren't here before.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Precisely.**

The three dillzens return, now holding rather scary looking assault weapons. They point the guns at the Doctor and Rose.

**DILLZEN**  
**Don't move.**

**DOCTOR**  
**For instance, I had no idea that was going to happen.**

The Doctor sighs.

-To be Continued...-


	10. Chapter 10 - Not Another Insurrection

INT. MAINTENANCE BAY

Rose and the Doctor stare down the barrels of three assault rifles held by dillzens, pink skinned "maintenance workers". They are FILIPA, the calm and logical of the group, IGOR, the brute, and their enigmatic leader, REX.

Filipa keeps her rifle up, but uses her other hand to scan the Doctor and Rose with a small medical scanner.

**FILIPA**  
**It says she's human.**

**REX**  
**Human? Let me see that.**

He takes it from her and reads from the display.

**REX**  
**You ****_are_**** human.**

**ROSE**  
**That's right, that's me, proud human. That's a good thing, yes? Then, I'm that. And you are?**

She offers Rex her hand as a sign of friendship. He sticks the gun in her face.

**REX**  
**The one pointing a gun at you.**

Rose backs up, all the way to behind the Doctor.

**ROSE**  
**Right. Thought I recognized you.**

Rex points the scanner at the Doctor.

**REX**  
**Two hearts, no pancreas, and... what the hell is that? So, you're not human.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Thank heavens, no.**

**REX**  
**In fact, this thing isn't sure what species you are.**

**DOCTOR**  
**"This thing"? Tell me you don't know what it's called.**

**REX**  
**I don't have to know what it's called to know how to use it.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Is that why you're holding it upside down?**

**REX**  
**Am not.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Sure, don't listen to me. I'm just the one who knows what it's called.**

**REX**  
**And I'm just the one with the gun.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You've mentioned. But what you've failed to mention is that you're standing on a Class 10 Mass Space Station, one with suppressor nano-bots injected into the air by the ventilation system. These nano-bots float on the air like little pixie flies and just so happen to suppress all energy weapons fire as part of the station's security measures.**

The Doctor smiles, confident he's just poked a hole in Rex's coup. Not to be deterred, Rex casually points his rifle at a nearby bucket and mop. He pulls the trigger and a concentrated beam of red energy disintegrates them into ash.

**DOCTOR**  
**But clearly you've disabled the injectors, which is probably why you disguised yourselves as maintenance workers in the first place, so I'll stop talking now.**

**REX**  
**Yeah, good call, chief.**

**FILIPA**  
**(to Rose)**  
**Who are you? There are no humans working for The Net. The I.U.A.W.C.P. would never allow it.**

**ROSE**  
**Well, I, um... there's a good explanation for that.**

Struggling to come up with one, she looks to the Doctor for help. He smiles at her, eager to hear whatever she comes up with.

**ROSE**  
**And... well...**

She motions for him to jump in any time he feels ready. He just smiles, enjoying watching her twist in the wind. She curls her lip at him.

**ROSE**  
**He's the Doctor. **

**REX**  
**The Doctor?**

**ROSE**  
**Yes.**

**FILIPA**  
**And that makes you... the nurse?**

**DOCTOR/ROSE**  
**No.**

**ROSE**  
**More of his, um...**

**DOCTOR**  
**Companion.**

The dillzens all nod, understanding.

**FILIPA**  
**Oh. You're his sex slave.**

**IGOR**  
**Should have known.**

**ROSE**  
**What? No-no-no-no...**

The Doctor lets out a belly laugh.

**DOCTOR**  
**Ha! I rather like that one.**

Igor punches the Doctor in the face. He goes down.

**ROSE**  
**Oh.**

The Doctor checks his nose for blood. He finds a dab of pink.

**DOCTOR**  
**Not as fond of that, though.**

**ROSE**  
**Doctor, are you okay? What'd you hit him for?**

**FILIPA**  
**It's okay, dear, you don't have to worry. You're free now. He can't hurt you anymore.**

**ROSE**  
**But he hasn't...**

Filipa takes Rose's hand and brings her over to "their side". The three of them keep their rifles pointed at the Doctor, who stands, still inspecting the pink from his face.

**DOCTOR**  
**This isn't blood. Not my blood. Not anyone's blood.**

He looks at Igor's hand. There's a smudge across the knuckles, revealing brown skin underneath.

**DOCTOR**  
**Hey, you're not pink. You're not dillzens at all, are you? You're humans.**

**REX**  
**Actually, we're more than that. We're party crashers.**

INT. GRAND OBSERVATORY – SPACE STATION NEW ROME

As the delegates mingle, twelve "dillzens" surreptitiously surround the room, including all of the exits. One of them, HELGA, an engineer, pushes an equipment cart over to the elevator shaft. She speaks into a pin embedded in her collar.

**HELGA**  
**In position.**

On cue, Rex bursts through the maintenance bay doors and fires several shots into the air. Other dillzens follow his lead and also fire into the air, herding the crowd into the center of the room.

Helga hacks into the elevator computer using two metal clamps and a kind of laptop. The lights in the room dim to an emergency setting and the television screens on stage flicker out. Blast shield doors seal the room on all sides, leaving the shaft guarded by Helga the only way in or out.

**REX**  
**Everyone in the middle. Now!**

Igor pushes the Doctor at gun point and forces him in with the rest of the hostages. Filipa keeps Rose with her and the two women follow Rex onto the auction stage where they are met by a panicked Grizzy.

**GRIZZY**  
**What's the meaning of this? Who are you people? I demand an explanation.**

**REX**  
**Here's my explanation.**

Rex shoots Grizzy. The blue man disintegrates to ash. Rose looks away, mortified.

**ROSE**  
**Oh my god, he killed that man.**

**FILIPA**  
**He's doing what he has to do.**

The crowd screams with fright as they huddle together.

**REX**  
**Everyone shut up! Shut your fat, rich, mouths and get down on the ground.**

The crowd quiets. The Doctor, near Jabe and Cassandra, sits on the ground. Jabe follows his lead, but Cassandra refuses.

**CASSANDRA**  
**I will not denigrate myself by squatting.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Cassandra, how many surgeries do you think it will take to put you back together after every atom in your body is ripped apart at the molecular level?**

She relents with a huff and sits amongst her slaves.

Meanwhile, Helga approaches the stage and addresses Rex.

**HELGA**  
**It's done. No one gets in or out without us knowing.**

**REX**  
**The monetary depository?**

**HELGA**  
**We're in.**

Rex smiles, then turns to Filipa.

**REX**  
**You know what to do. Good luck.**

**FILIPA**  
**You, too.**

Filipa takes Rose by the hand and leads her to the elevator shaft. The Doctor watches, but is powerless.

**ROSE**  
**Wait, where are we going? I want to stay with the Doctor.**

**FILIPA**  
**You can't. You'll be safe with me. You're no longer bound to his will.**

**ROSE**  
**Doctor!**

The Doctor sees Rose struggling and raises his hand, as if to tell her 'no, go with Filipa'. She understands, and relents, entering the elevator without further resistance. But her expression is one of sheer fright. He smiles at her to try and calm her, to assure her that everything will be all right, but the elevator doors shut on her still looking terrified.

Rex claps, drawing everyone's attention back on him.

**REX**  
**All right, ladies and gentlemen and robots, it's an honor and a privilege to be addressing you on this truly historic occasion. You all are the wealthiest people in the known universe, here to welcome the Earth into the interstellar marketplace for the very first time, and to stake a claim to your cut. There's just one little hiccup. There are people living on that planet, and we sort of have a problem with other people telling us what to do, who to be, and taking our stuff.**

**JABE**  
**(under her breath)**  
**Not another insurrection.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Another?**

**JABE**  
**This happens from time to time. It's very irritating.**

The Doctor seems confused.

**REX**  
**So, here's what's going to happen. Earth is going to remain independent, free to choose its own path going forward. There will be no declaration. But you all came to participate in an auction and far be it for me to deprive you of your high society fun. Unfortunately, it seems I just shot the Auctioneer, so there appears to be a job opening available. I nominate myself. I accept. The position has been filled. Here's how it's going to work…**

Helga works at her computer and the two television displays on either side of the stage turn back on. Instead of information pertaining to the Earth and its resources, they now display a list of the delegates, with financial information on each one. As each name is highlighted, an image of their face is enlarged (or just their head, if they have no face).

**REX**  
**Each of you, one at a time, is going to be put up on the auction block, and your competitors are going to get to bid. You cannot bid on yourself. Whoever wins the auction gets to choose the fate of whoever's on the block; you can choose to take all of their money and kill them, or you can let them keep both their money and their life. The house keeps the winning bid, due to the fact that we've hijacked the auction house's monetary depository, through which you have all registered your many fortunes. Whoever wins the bid is next to go on the block, unless they've been on the block before, or don't have any money left, in which case they will be deemed exempt and set free.**

**CASSANDRA**  
**That's ridiculous. The only way that could ever happen is if we bid everything we have and then set the person free. We'd be penniless.**

**REX**  
**But morally righteous, my dear. You will have sacrificed everything for someone else's money and life. And if you're lucky, maybe, just maybe, they'll find it in their heart to take pity on you.**

The Cybermen converse amongst themselves through a series of binary beeps and whistles. Following a heated exchange, the CYBERMEN LEADER addresses Rex. He speaks in halted utterances.

**CYBERMEN LEADER**  
**Why bid? What? Is to? Be Gained?**

**REX**  
**A fortune. You're all going on the block at some point. You could walk out of here right now, completely broke, or you could walk out of here with your money. Better yet, you could walk out of here with someone else's money. All it's going to take is one act of charity, or perhaps cowardice, from your competition. Besides, if you don't play my game, I'm going to shoot you. We're going to start with the wealthiest of you.**

Rex surveys the screens, which lists the delegates in order from most to least wealthy. The name at the top of the list is…

**REX**  
**And according to your bios, that would be Mobbles and The Head, of the Excream.**

Everyone turns to look at Mobbles and The Head. They look nervous.

**REX**  
**It'll just take a few minutes to calibrate the auction house computers. In the meantime, feel free to talk amongst yourselves, work up a little strategy, make some deals, for all the good it will do you.**

He hops down from the stage to speak with Helga. The Doctor watches Rex closely as the rest of the delegates rush into half-baked, on the fly alliances.

INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT

Rose stands as far away from Filipa as possible, which isn't very far at all considering the confines of the elevator. Filipa removes from her jumpsuit a small device no larger than a egg. She twists it open and a light from inside each half shines outward like a flashlight ray. She bathes in the light, and it cleans the pink from her skin.

**ROSE**  
**Who are you people?**

**FILIPA**  
**We're part of the Human Sons and Daughters of Liberty Movement. We're freedom fighters, trying to keep Earth free from tyrannical races with far superior technology to our own. They've been coming to our world for thousands of years, trying to seize control through everything from abducting people, to impersonating our leaders, to brute force invasion. They've unleashed plagues on our world, instigated wars in an attempt to fool us into wiping each other out, and manipulated political regimes. Now, they're back again, trying to sell us off to the highest bidder like we're some sort of commodity. We're the ones who fight back.**

**ROSE**  
**By killing innocent people?**

**FILIPA**  
**Grizzy wasn't innocent.**

**ROSE**  
**He wasn't armed, either.**

**FILIPA**  
**Were you armed when the Doctor abducted you?**

**ROSE**  
**I wasn't abducted.**

**FILIPA**  
**Oh? Then, what were you doing with him?**

**ROSE**  
**He's just a traveler. He invited me to go with him and I did. It was my choice.**

**FILIPA**  
**Was it? No offense, but you don't exactly look old enough to be an astronaut. You're a civilian, aren't you?**

**ROSE**  
**Yeah.**

**FILIPA**  
**That's what I thought. And let me guess, one day, out of the blue, a man shows up in your life unlike any other man you've ever met before. He's an alien, not a bad looking one either, capable of traveling to other worlds, and showing you wonders like you've never seen. Opens you up to new possibilities and makes your old life look humdrum. And he tells you that you can go with him, if you'd like, and all you have to do is perform a few favors for him here and there. Service his needs.**

**ROSE**  
**No, it's not like that at all.**

**FILIPA**  
**Isn't it?**

**ROSE**  
**No.**

**FILIPA**  
**Then what exactly is it you do for him? Do you cook? Clean? Check under his bed at night for monsters?**

**ROSE**  
**I don't know... I... I'm his partner.**

**FILIPA**  
**Partner in what? What exactly are you good for that he would need you as a partner? He has a spaceship that can go anywhere in the universe and enough money to buy entire planets. I can see why you wanted to go with him, but what the hell does he want with you?**

**ROSE**  
**I...**

Rose thinks, and the more she thinks, the worse she feels.

**ROSE**  
**… don't know.**

**FILIPA**  
**So, how can you be sure you're not a slave?**

The elevator comes to a halt and the doors open. Filipa exits. After a second of hesitation, and self-contemplation, Rose follows.

-To be Continued...-


	11. Chapter 11 - One Trillion for the Lady

INT. GRAND OBSERVATORY

Panicked aristocrats scream at each other in an attempt to make deals for their lives and fortunes, but the Doctor keeps to himself, off to the side. He eyes Rex and Helga from afar, as the two of them converse over final preparations for the auction from hell. He doesn't even notice Jabe sidle up on his right.

**JABE**  
**Shouldn't you be leveraging your assets in order to work out a mutually beneficial arrangement?**

**DOCTOR**  
**What? Oh. Shouldn't you?**

**JABE**  
**Not much of a point, is there? Haven't got enough. Simple mathematics. I'm, by far, the least wealthy of anyone here. They can shut me out if they want. I only showed up to this thing in the first place to keep up appearances. I can't outbid anyone, which means I'll be last on the block. They can take what I have without a second thought.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Except toward their conscience.**

**JABE**  
**You think anyone in this room has one of those? You think they got to where they are by being nice to each other?**

**DOCTOR**  
**You don't strike me as so wicked. So, what's a tree like you doing in a place like this? Hanging around with this lot?**

**JABE**  
**Respect for life. I don't enjoy seeing it go to waste. The Earth is a magnificent boiling pot of organic chemistry, from the tiniest microbe to the most substantial mammal, all feeding off each other, all contributing something special to each others' existence.**

**FLOWER**  
**Symbiosis.**

**GRASS**  
**One.**

**JABE**  
**Beautiful. And there are people here who would irradiate the atmosphere to turn it into a data repository, or sell off its populace like cattle, drain it of all its light, and then leave it a used up husk in the darkness, not serving anything or anyone... just... alone... forgotten by time, hurtling through the stars without voice, without hope, without purpose. How sad that would be, don't you think?**

The Doctor takes Jabe's words to heart. A single tear drips down his cheek. She notices it and touches his face, absorbing the tear into her hand root. She savors it before taking her hand away.

**JABE**  
**Forgive me. I did not mean to be too intimate.**

They're both too distracted to notice Cassandra swoop in.

**CASSANDRA**  
**Vultures. Every last one of them. Miscreants masquerading as civilized individuals, nothing more. Now, Doctor, let's talk deal. I'm second on that psychopath's list up there and you're third. That means we have all the power in this auction. So, when my head goes up on the block, you put in the top bid. When you set me free, no one will be able to outbid me for you.**

Jabe rolls her eyes.

**DOCTOR**  
**Except Mobbles and The Head.**

**CASSANDRA**  
**What?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Mobbles and The Head have more money than you. He'll be able to outbid me for you if he wants. He can also outbid you for me.**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Well, I mean... if he's still around.**

She grins, coyly. The Doctor steps closer.

**DOCTOR**  
**Madam, if you think I'm going to stand here and watch you kill that man, and take his money, and then put my life in your hands, then you really must give me the name of whichever surgeon performed your lobotomy, because they did a superlative job. Now, shut your lipless face and let me think.**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Well, I have never been treated with such disrespect.**

**JABE**  
**I find that hard to believe.**

The Doctor turns away from Cassandra and returns to his observation of Rex.

**DOCTOR**  
**Something's not right. Jabe, when you realized what was happening, you said "not another insurrection". What did you mean by that?**

**JABE**  
**Just that it's happened before.**

**DOCTOR**  
**It has?**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Do you think humans have a monopoly on the desire to stay independent?**

**DOCTOR**  
**When? Where? How many times? I need details. How were those other insurrections resolved?**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Elegantly and effectively.**

**JABE**  
**The Tonades were sent in to wipe out the resistance and restore order.**

**DOCTOR**  
**The Tonades? The mercenary police. They're coming here?**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Of course, I just hope we're all still alive when that happens.**

Rex signals to two of his men. They nod and wade through the crowd until they reach Mobbles and The Head. They grab him and drag him onto the stage at gunpoint.

**REX**  
**All right, everyone. All right. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for.**

The Doctor pushes his way as close to Rex as he can. He only stops when one of Rex's men sticks a gun in his face.

**DOCTOR**  
**You don't have to do this.**

**REX**  
**Oh, I think I do.**

**DOCTOR**  
**If you go forward with this travesty, you're no better than any of these people.**

**REX**  
**I never claimed to be better. Just defiant as hell.**

Rex walks away to address the crowd.

**REX**  
**Our first item up for bid is Mobbles and The Head. Fortune valued at over eighty-five trillion lezares. Owner of the Plethora Nebula Cluster, from which his Ziva Corporation collects iroaneutrinos for use in his super-fusion nine series reactors, the most common starship engine in the galaxy. Shall we start the bidding at, say, five hundred billion?**

Cassandra raises her hand.

**REX**  
**I have five hundred billion, our first bid, from the Lady of Olefew herself. Thank you, and may I say you're looking simply sleek today, madam?**

She makes a derogatory gesture.

**REX**  
**Do I hear six hundred billion?**

Next to Jabe, the Doctor fumes.

**DOCTOR**  
**We have to stop this.**

On stage, Mobbles and The Head quake with fear.

INT. DOCKING RING

Rose follows Filipa around a curved hall leading to the various docking ports. Dillzens we know are really humans in disguise push heavy equipment on anti-grav loaders through each of the docking bay doors.

**FILIPA**  
**Let's move it, people. We don't have a lot of time.**

**ROSE**  
**I don't get it. You're stealing the ships?**

**FILIPA**  
**Not exactly.**

Filipa leads Rose through one of the docking bay doors.

INT. DOCKING PORT 215 – CASSANDRA'S SHIP

VIRGIL, a human, uses a laser torch to cut a hole through the door leading to Cassandra's ship. Sparks fly and metal melts around the cutting points. Filipa avoids the anti-grav loader as she steps inside with Rose.

**FILIPA**  
**You have got to be kidding me. We're still not in yet?**

Virgil stops the torch to stand and speak to Filipa.

**VIRGIL**  
**Almost, mum. This thing's really thick. Made of deutrinium or somethin', I dunno.**

**FILIPA**  
**The best money can buy, I'm sure.**

**VIRGIL**  
**Who's this?**

He points to Rose.

**FILIPA**  
**This is Rose, a human slave we liberated from upstairs. We have got to get in there. Cora's already in Mobbles and The Head's ship, tearing it apart, but she hasn't found it yet.**

**ROSE**  
**What are you looking for?**

**VIRGIL**  
**It's...**

**FILIPA**  
**Keep working, Virgil. We don't have a lot of time. I'm going to go check to see if Jethro needs help.**

Rose follows Filipa as Virgil gets back to work.

INT. DOCKING RING

Rose picks up the pace to keep up with Filipa.

**ROSE**  
**Don't avoid the question. What are you looking for?**

**FILIPA**  
**We have reason to believe that one of the delegates brought a world ender with them.**

**ROSE**  
**Please tell me that's not as bad as it sounds.**

**FILIPA**  
**It's every bit as bad. Unfortunately, our intelligence officer couldn't identify which delegate brought the bomb. All we know is that, in the event they lost the auction and the rights to declare the Earth, they planned to sabotage the winner by destroying the planet. That's why we're searching every ship, but we don't have a lot of time before the Tonades arrive and try to take back the station. If that happens before we find the world ender, there's no telling what could happen.**

**ROSE**  
**Oh my god. I want to help.**

**FILIPA**  
**I was hoping you would say that.**

Filipa turns and walks through another one of the bay doors.

INT. DOCKING PORT 212 – THE DOCTOR'S "SHIP"

Rose follows Filipa inside and only now realizes that she's been led back to where the Tardis is docked. JETHRO, another human, throws his blowtorch on the ground in frustration when it fails to make even a scratch on the surface of the Tardis door.

**JETHRO**  
**Bloody hell! Nothing. Just nothing.**

**FILIPA**  
**Report.**

**JETHRO**  
**See for yourself. I've never seen anything like it. Can't even make a dent.**

**FILIPA**  
**Rose, we need your help.**

**JETHRO**  
**Who the hell's she?**

**FILIPA**  
**This is Rose. She came on that ship. We liberated her and now she's going to help us get onboard. Isn't that right, Rose?**

Rose hesitates.

**ROSE**  
**I, um...**

**FILIPA**  
**You said you wanted to help.**

**ROSE**  
**But, you don't understand, the Doctor would never try and destroy the planet. Heck, when I met him, he was trying to save it.**

**FILIPA**  
**That's fine. Then, when you let us in, we won't find any bombs. But we still need to do our search.**

**ROSE**  
**No.**

**FILIPA**  
**Excuse me?**

**ROSE**  
**I said no. The Doctor would never, so you're just wasting your time here, anyway, when you could be looking on one of the other ships.**

**JETHRO**  
**She's hiding something.**

**ROSE**  
**You can't just break in wherever you want.**

Filipa points her rifle at Rose.

**ROSE**  
**You can't.**

**FILIPA**  
**Do you think I won't do everything in my power to save the Earth?**

**ROSE**  
**But you're not saving it pointing guns at innocent people.**

**FILIPA**  
**Innocent, guilty, good, bad, they're just words. They mean nothing compared to the lives of seven billion people and everything else on Earth.**

She grabs Rose and slams her face first into the observation window, forcing Rose to look at the planet.

**FILIPA**  
**This blind faith you're putting in your precious Doctor is putting everyone down there at risk and, quite frankly, I don't have time for it. Now, you will open that door for us, and let us onboard, or I am going to start hurting you.**

Rose struggles against Filipa's grasp.

INT. GRAND OBSERVATORY

The auction for Mobbles and The Head continues with Rex orchestrating it all like a great conductor.

The Cybermen Leader raises a digit.

**REX**  
**Nine trillion from the Cybermen.**

Cassandra's slave Bix raises his hand.

**REX**  
**Ten trillion.**

**CYBERMEN LEADER**  
**Twenty. Trillion.**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Twenty-five!**

The Head weeps in its jar. Mobbles squirms and cries.

**MOBBLES AND THE HEAD**  
**Please don't do this. I'll pay anything.**

Elsewhere in the crowd, the Doctor thinks.

**DOCTOR**  
**This is a waste of time. He's wasting time!**

**JABE**  
**What do you mean, Doctor?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Rex isn't some psychotic. He's not up there to play games. Everything about his plan was executed with the precision of a soldier, from impersonating the dillzens to hacking the monetary depository. He's on a mission. But he must know that the Tonades are on their way. So, why is he putting on this sham? He can take your money. He can kill you if he wants. He's put off the declaration. Unless he doesn't yet have everything he wants. But what's more important than any of those things that would make him risk hanging around a second longer than he had to?**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Fifty-seven trillion, six hundred thirty-seven billion, eighty million, two-hundred seventeen thousand, and ninety-three.**

Everyone freezes. Rex beams.

**REX**  
**The Lady of Olefew bids her entire fortune! And because she is the second most wealthy of all of you, there is no bid that can match hers. Cassandra is the winner! Come on up here.**

Cassandra glows from within, rather pleased with herself, until a pair of Rex's men forcibly drag her up on stage.

Helga types away at her computer and transfers all of Cassandra's fortune into the house account. On the screens, Cassandra is now listed as having a net worth of zero.

Rex steps close to Cassandra, too close for her comfort. She recoils from him. In the crowd, her slaves make a move for the stage. One of Rex's guards shoots Sax, and his body disintegrates to ash. The remaining three slaves huddle together in fear and step back.

**REX**  
**Shame about your slave, Cassie. But one life lost, another could be saved. Now's your chance to balance the scales. So, what'll it be?**

Rex points a rifle at Mobbles and The Head.

**REX**  
**Claim his fortune and end his life... or set him and yourself free.**

Cassandra eyes Mobbles and The Head.

**MOBBLES AND THE HEAD**  
**Please, Cassandra. I beg you. Let me go. I'll make sure you're taken care of. I promise you! Just let me live!**

Everyone waits for Cassandra's decision with bated breath.

**CASSANDRA**  
**I'll take care of myself, thank you.**

She turns to Rex.

**CASSANDRA**  
**I'll take his money.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Cassandra, you vile swine!**

**MOBBLES AND THE HEAD**  
**Nooooo!**

Rex shoots Mobbles and The Head. They're vaporized.

Jabe turns away. The Doctor shuts his eyes at the sight of such horror.

Helga taps away at her controls and Cassandra's net worth shoots up to a little more than eighty-five trillion.

Cassandra smiles.

**CASSANDRA**  
**I'm serving notice, twenty trillion to whoever wins the bid on me and sets me free. Now, let's get this over with. If I'm going to die, it'll be as the richest individual in the known universe. Not a terrible way to go, after all.**

She holds her chin up high, prepared for her fate. The Doctor stares at her, absolutely furious.

**REX**  
**Well, then, shall we start the bidding at, say, one trillion?**

The Doctor raises his hand. Jabe's mouth hangs open at the sight.

**JABE**  
**Doctor, what are you doing?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm bidding one trillion... for the bitch.**

Cassandra turns to look at him. She smirks. He just stares back, his eyes burning a hole through her.

Rex smiles.

**REX**  
**We have an opening bid of one trillion... from the Doctor.**

-To be Continued...-


	12. Chapter 12 - Who's Worthy

INT. DOCKING PORT 212 – THE DOCTOR'S "SHIP"

Jethro has Rose pinned against the window with her right arm extended. The majestic blue Earth surrounds her head in the background like a holy halo. She struggles, but the man's grasp is much too strong.

Filipa holds Rose's right hand and peels back the index finger like an onion layer. She wraps her own fingers around Rose's and makes eye contact as she slowly, deliberately, bends it backwards.

**ROSE**  
**Please... there's no bomb on board! I'm telling the truth. Please, don't! Pleeeeeeease...**

Filipa says nothing. She just keeps bending Rose's finger back until... it SNAPS! Rose lets out a cry so loud the floating crystals above vibrate and sway. Filipa lets Rose feel that pain for a moment, lets her suffer, then grabs hold of another finger.

**FILIPA**  
**If there's nothing on board, you have nothing to hide. You have ten fingers, Rose. Do you have any idea how many bones I can break after that? Just let us inside. There's no reason for you to suffer for him.**

Rose winces as her second finger bends to its breaking point. She cries, shakes her head no.

**ROSE**  
**Okay! Okay, I'll let you in. Just stop.**

Filipa releases Rose's finger and hand. Jethro backs away. Rose holds her hand close to her chest, her heart still racing. Reluctantly, she walks over to the Tardis door and grabs the handle with her good hand. A latch release engages and the door opens.

**JETHRO**  
**Hm. It must be specifically coded to recognize her DNA. Advanced.**

Jethro pushes by Rose on his way inside. Filipa motions for Rose to follow him.

**FILIPA**  
**You next.**

Rose follows Jethro into the Tardis.

INT. TARDIS

Jethro approaches the central core and investigates the controls. Filipa lowers her weapon at the sight of the flesh-colored walls and bone-like support structures, practically forgetting about Rose in the process.

**FILIPA**  
**What in the-? This is a Sek Sek Lux Cruiser?**

**ROSE**  
**Never been onboard one?**

**FILIPA**  
**No.**

**ROSE**  
**Then this is a Sek Sek Lux Cruiser.**

**JETHRO**  
**Don't listen to her.**

**FILIPA**  
**Ya think?**

Jethro navigates the console carefully. Filipa helps. Still nursing her hand, Rose finds a place to sit as far away from them as she can get away with.

**JETHRO**  
**I've never seen anything like this. The technology is incredibly advanced, but ancient at the same time.**

**FILIPA**  
**If I'm reading this right, it's only six rooms, including this one. It's actually smaller on the inside.**

Filipa turns her rifle back on Rose.

**FILIPA**  
**This isn't a luxury vessel, and your Doctor friend isn't from The Net. Who the hell are you people?**

**JETHRO**  
**Filipa, look at this.**

Jethro motions to a four by four panel attached to the control board of the cylindrical core. It hums with bright orange energy.

**JETHRO**  
**I've never seen an energy matrix like this before. It's off the scale.**

**FILIPA**  
**Is it dangerous?**

**JETHRO**  
**It's contained. It should be safe to open the panel.**

He tries to open the panel, but it doesn't budge.

**FILIPA**  
**(to Rose)**  
**Is it a bomb?**

**ROSE**  
**What?**

Filipa points the gun at Rose again.

**FILIPA**  
**If there's a bomb in this panel, you're a dead woman, just so we're clear.**

**ROSE**  
**It's not a bomb.**

**FILIPA**  
**Prove it. Open the panel.**

Rose hesitates, which only angers Filipa.

**FILIPA**  
**Rose, you're up. Now! Come on! We don't have a lot of time, here.**

Filipa drags Rose over. Rose stares at the panel, unsure of what's beyond it.

**FILIPA**  
**What are you waiting for?**

Rose fidgets, bites her lip.

**ROSE**  
**I don't know if this is such a good idea.**

**FILIPA**  
**I didn't ask for your opinion.**

**ROSE**  
**But what if it is a bomb?**

**FILIPA**  
**Suddenly, you're not sure? I thought you said you trusted the Doctor, that he'd never do anything to hurt anyone.**

**ROSE**  
**He wouldn't... I don't think. I don't know. I only just met him.**

**FILIPA**  
**Open the panel, now!**

Rose takes a deep breath to settle her nerves, then slowly reaches for the release latch. She stops.

**ROSE**  
**I'm scared.**

**FILIPA**  
**You either trust the Doctor or you don't.**

Rose thinks another second, then grabs the handle and pulls the latch open.

Fiery light explodes from the open panel. Beams of gold slither outward and attach themselves to the retinas of Jethro, Filipa, and Rose. Their bodies spasm in mid-air. Filipa and Jethro scream in agony, but Rose's experience is different. As if taking in the scent of a fresh spring flower, she smiles. Her shoulders relax. She is calm.

And then, suddenly, the panel slams itself shut. The light dissipates. Jethro and Filipa are shaken and each collapse to their knees. Rose is gently let down and turns, standing over them as they each look up at her with tears streaming down their cheeks.

**FILIPA**  
**I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I... I didn't know.**

Rose caresses Filipa's face.

**ROSE**  
**Neither did I.**

She helps Jethro and Filipa to their feet.

**FILIPA**  
**Let's go.**

All three leave the Tardis together.

INT. DOCKING PORT 212 – THE DOCTOR'S "SHIP"

Filipa, Jethro, and Rose exit the Tardis. They're met in the hall by Virgil.

**VIRGIL**  
**Filipa!**

**FILIPA**  
**Did you find the bomb?**

**VIRGIL**  
**We found it.**

**FILIPA**  
**Which ship was it on?**

They wait for the answer.

INT. GRAND OBSERVATORY

The auction for Cassandra and her fortunes continues.

**DOCTOR**  
**Thirteen trillion.**

**CYBERMEN LEADER**  
**Four. Teen.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Eighteen.**

**CYBERMEN LEADER**  
**Twen. Tee.**

Rex laughs like a lunatic on stage.

**REX**  
**Twenty trillion for the Lady of Olefew! Isn't it wonderful?**

Helga nods. Rex's men share in his amusement.

**JABE**  
**(to the Doctor)**  
**Doctor, please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to do.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You mean kill Cassandra? Twenty-two!**

**JABE**  
**You can't stoop to her level. Life is more important than that.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I most certainly can. Quite capable, actually.**

**CYBERMEN LEADER**  
**Thir. Tee.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Forty-five! Time to end this. That woman is an evil and disgusting troll and she deserves the same fate as those who've had the misfortune of ending up under her heel.**

**JABE**  
**And you're the one to make that decision?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm the Doctor!**

The elevator returns. When the door opens, Filipa and Rose step out and head immediately for the stage.

**REX**  
**And with that all-in bid, the Doctor has shut out all other competition, which means he is the winner! Congratulations, Doctor.**

Satisfied with his victory, the Doctor pumps his fist. Then, he sees Rose and his confidence disappears.

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose.**

**REX**  
**Come on, let's get the Doctor on up here.**

Rex's men grab the Doctor and bring him up on stage. Rex sees Filipa and walks over.

**REX**  
**(to Filipa)**  
**Tell me you found it.**

**FILIPA**  
**We've got it.**

**REX**  
**Yes.**

He kisses her, relieved.

**FILIPA**  
**On the Cybermen's ship.**

Rex glances in the direction of the Cybermen, vitriol in his eyes.

The Doctor looks at Rose from across the stage. Something is different about her. He notices.

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose, are you all right? You look...**

**ROSE**  
**I'm fine.**

He appraises her smile. A thought occurs to him.

**DOCTOR**  
**You opened the panel?**

**ROSE**  
**They forced me.**

The Doctor sees Rose's swollen broken finger for the first time.

**DOCTOR**  
**You're sure you're okay?**

She nods.

Composing himself, Rex attends to the task at hand. He moves over to Cassandra and rubs her shoulders.

**REX**  
**Well, Cassandra, the moment of truth has arrived. You've worked all your life toward this moment and you are now officially the wealthiest woman in the known universe, but there's just one little problem, because all the money in the galaxy won't save you, now. Your fate is entirely in the hands of someone else, the Doctor, man of fortune and fame, but what of his conscience? Tell us, Doctor, do you consider yourself an honorable man?**

The Doctor hesitates, so Rex addresses Rose.

**REX**  
**Better yet, what about you, miss Rose? The Doctor's sweet, lovely, young... companion, was it? Do you consider the Doctor to be an honorable man?**

**ROSE**  
**I do.**

**REX**  
**Then, the question remains. What does an honorable man do when faced with the impossible choice? Cassandra is a vile, despicable, creature...**

**CASSANDRA**  
**Look who's talking, gutter flotsam.**

**REX**  
**She just killed Mobbles and The Head, for money! By all accounts, she's vain, sadistic, greedy, and a slave driver to boot. But now her fate is in the Doctor's hands. He can choose to take that wealth from her, everything she holds dear, and also end her life... or he can be the better man, give up his own wealth, and set her free. The universe would truly be better off without her, but is that enough to clear a conscience? Is that enough for an honorable man? What do you say, Doctor? Make your choice.**

The Doctor looks at Cassandra. She holds her chin up high.

**CASSANDRA**  
**Well? Do it. You know you want me dead.**

He next looks to Rose. There's indecision on his face, like he's being tugged from both sides.

**ROSE**  
**I trust you.**

Her vote of confidence sets him at ease. The Doctor turns to Rex.

**DOCTOR**  
**Let her have her money.**

Jabe smiles, relieved, proud of him. Cassandra exhales a breath we didn't even realize she was holding in. She can't help but laugh.

**CASSANDRA**  
**Oh. I'm going to get laugh lines. Oh, how awful.**

Stunned, Rex can't believe it.

**REX**  
**A truly righteous gesture. You, Doctor, really are an amazing man. You see a murderer standing before you, by all accounts an evil being to her core, and still you hold true to your moral foundation. If all were like you, the universe would be a better place. But it's not a better place.**

Rex pulls out his gun and shoots the Cybermen and their leader one by one until they are all vaporized. Everyone looks on in total shock.

The Doctor faces Rex. They stare at each other, rivals.

**REX**  
**Fortunately, I am not handicapped like you are by things such as honor and virtue. The Cybermen brought with them a terrible weapon, one they intended to use to eat our planet, and kill every human on it. I am now in possession of that weapon and I intend to use it on anyone who threatens our world with a declaration, invasion, or prissy damned attitude.**

Rex steps closer to the Doctor.

**REX**  
**We are independent. We are here. And we are not going anywhere. When the Tonades arrive, you tell them what happened here. You tell them, if they come looking for me, Galaxy Eradon, four-four-eight-six, three-four-nine-nine, eight-eight-zero-eight. Understand?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I comprehend... but I will never understand people like you.**

Rex smiles.

**REX**  
**We're out, everybody. Have a peaceful rest of your evening.**

Rex and his crew exit by way of the elevator shaft. Everyone else watches, giving Rex a wide berth. Rose moves to the Doctor's side.

**ROSE**  
**I'm confused. What's Galaxy Eradon and all those numbers?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Coordinates.**

**ROSE**  
**But, why would he want you to tell the Tonades where he's gone?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Those coordinates aren't where he's going. Those are the coordinates of the Tonades' homeworld. He wants them to know, if they come for him, he intends to blow it up.**

The elevator closes on Rex, Filipa, and their crew.

INT. TARDIS

In a quiet moment, the Doctor and Rose sit together inside the Tardis. He holds her right hand in his and inspects it with an eyepiece he has strapped to his head. A light from the piece moves over the swollen purple hand.

**ROSE**  
**Ow.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Easy, I haven't done anything yet. I'm just looking.**

**ROSE**  
**Sorry.**

**DOCTOR**  
**She did some damage. It's dislocated, fractured, and there's some tendon damage. Nothing I can't fix.**

Next to him is an old-fashioned leather case like the one's small town prairie doctors used to carry with them with all of their medical supplies and equipment. He reaches into the bag and pulls out a regenerator, a small device no larger than a computer mouse.

**DOCTOR**  
**This might hurt a bit.**

She closes her eyes and cringes as he applies the regenerator directly to her hand. She winces at the touch.

**ROSE**  
**You're sure you know what you're doing?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I thought you said you trust me.**

**ROSE**  
**I do.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Well, I don't just go around calling myself the Doctor for giggles and ego, ya know.**

**ROSE**  
**I know.**

A beat.

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm sorry she hurt you. I thought you'd be safer with her. I never meant to put you in harm's way. I hope you believe me. The Independence from Declaration didn't happen like that the first time. It was a peaceful protest. There were no bombs, no terrorists.**

**ROSE**  
**Just us being there didn't make all that happen.**

**DOCTOR**  
**No. No, it couldn't have. Something's changed in time and not for the better.**

**ROSE**  
**And now we need to fix it.**

He looks at her, caught off guard.

**ROSE**  
**That's what you do, isn't it? That's why all hell breaks loose everywhere you go. The Tardis seeks it out. When I opened that panel, I felt it. It's alive.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You should feel honored. The Tardis is a being of perfected morality, goodness incarnate. That panel would only open for someone it deems worthy. Otherwise, you could have chained up a tow truck, and it wouldn't have budged.**

**ROSE**  
**When I felt the Tardis, it was like this wave of warmth, of clarity, but also sadness. There's a beginning and end to everything, but not for you two. No matter how much good you do, there's always more to be done.**

The regenerator beeps. She looks down.

**DOCTOR**  
**There. **

He pulls the regenerator from her hand. The swelling and bruising are gone. He touches it to make sure, caresses it a moment, then realizes what he's doing and pulls back.

**DOCTOR**  
**Good as new.**

She flexes her fingers. It's completely healed. He removes the eyepiece and puts it and the regenerator back in his bag.

**DOCTOR**  
**A doctor knows when he's treating a patient, their hand for instance, that somewhere down the line that patient is going to die. It might not be from a hand injury. In fact, it probably won't be from a hand injury. It might be something totally unrelated to what you're treating in that moment. Time is the same way. There's a big bang, things happen, and then they stop happening. I can't do anything about that, but maybe I can make everyone's life a little happier along the way. I can make the story a good one.**

She smiles.

**DOCTOR**  
**Well, I think, before we go anywhere else, maybe we should get some rest. I'll show you to your room.**

**ROSE**  
**I have a room?**

He stands, helps her up.

**DOCTOR**  
**You have a room.**

He escorts her to...

INT. ROSE'S ROOM – TARDIS

No larger than a typical college student's dorm, there's a round half-sack and half-pouch in the corner for a bed and a holo-screen on the wall across from it. The walls are flesh-colored, like in the rest of the ship, and there's a Victorian wooden desk in the corner with a quill pen and ink on top. A door on the side leads to what passes for a bathroom.

The Doctor enters first, then steps aside so Rose can follow.

**DOCTOR**  
**It's not much, but you can catch a few zig-zags over on the liver pouch. Don't worry, you won't hurt it. Bath's through there, holo-screen here's got programs downloaded from over five hundred worlds. Just talk to it. Smut lock's four-rango-rango-chizzle if you get a little randy, later.**

She smacks him.

**DOCTOR**  
**Just sayin'. And if you need me, there's a wee little button right over there.**

**ROSE**  
**If I need you, hm?**

Embarrassed, the Doctor blushes.

**DOCTOR**  
**Need me for something else, not if you're randy, I mean. Oh, you know what I mean.**

She laughs.

He points to a purple button embedded in the wall by the liver pouch bed.

**DOCTOR**  
**Anyway, that's the comm. I can hear you from anywhere on the ship when you press that button. Desk over there if you want to diary or something, heard you Earth gals like to pour out about everything you heart in there.**

**ROSE**  
**Don't be fresh.**

**DOCTOR**  
**And that's about it. You know about the closet, if you want a change. Sweet good night.**

The Doctor heads for the door.

**ROSE**  
**Doctor...**

He stops, turns back around.

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes?**

She sits down on the bed, stalling for time to think first on how she wants to word herself.

**ROSE**  
**Filipa asked me something back on the station, and I didn't know how to answer her. You can go anywhere in the universe, anywhen even. I'm sure you've met all sorts of amazing people and I'm sure any number of those would have loved to come with you on your journey through time. Why me? Of all the people you could have brought with you, why did you pick me?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I told you already... You have a good heart.**

She blushes.

**DOCTOR**  
**Sweet night, Rose Taylor.**

**ROSE**  
**Good night, Doctor.**

He leaves, shutting the door behind him.

She lays down on the bed and bounces a few times, testing it for comfort.

INT. TARDIS

With his arms folded behind his back, the Doctor takes a quiet stroll around the cylindrical core, checking it up and down, possibly for damage. After a complete survey, he finds himself standing in front of the same four by four panel Rose opened previously. He puts his hand up in front of it, like one might do when warming their hands by a roaring campfire. He takes his hand back, breathes in... and out.

He looks at the panel.

Orange light pulsates behind it.

He reaches for the release latch... tugs.

It doesn't move.

He gives it another tug.

Nothing.

The Doctor closes his eyes and lowers his head in shame.

**DOCTOR**  
**Sweet night, then.**

He walks away.

END CREDITS ROLL

- End Episode 2 - Serial, To be Continued...-


	13. Chapter 13 - Episode 3 Intro

INT. UNDERGROUND MUSEUM

Glass cases line either side of a red carpet, forming a kind of museum maze in a dimly lit warehouse. Off to the side, we hear the familiar ethereal whirring of the Tardis as a classic blue phone booth gradually appears out of nothingness. Once it has fully appeared, the door folds open and out steps the Doctor and Rose, the Doctor in his trademark leather jacket and collared shirt, Rose in casual contemporary bootcut jeans and a cyan t-shirt.

The Doctor admires the phone booth appearance of the Tardis cockpit.

**DOCTOR**  
**Lovely.**

He kisses his hand and then presses his hand to the door before continuing on.

**ROSE**  
**Where are we?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Utah, North America. About half a mile underground. The year is 2027. The Tardis is being drawn here for some reason. Devil knows why.**

**ROSE**  
**That makes me... thirty-six. Ugh, and my mom sixty. I bet she's having a cow about it.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Actually, you're still twenty-two. You haven't aged. You're just at a different point in time.**

The Doctor walks up to one of the display cases. Inside the case is the head of a long-dead lizard alien.

**DOCTOR**  
**This is a Slitheen.**

**ROSE**  
**Is that, like, it's species?**

He shakes his head.

**DOCTOR**  
**Family name. They tried to take over Great Britain, once. Twice. Three times? No, just twice. I'm almost sure it was only twice.**

**ROSE**  
**Doesn't look like it worked out so well for them.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Not so much, no.**

**ROSE**  
**This place looks like some sort of alien museum. Wait, on Earth? Are we in Area 51?!**

**DOCTOR**  
**That's in Nevada, love.**

**ROSE  
Oh. Hey, how old are you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**What?**

**ROSE**  
**Talking about age, it occurred to me I have no idea how old you are.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Nine hundred and thirty seven. **

**ROSE**  
**Seriously?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Indubitably.**

**ROSE**  
**Hopping around time with a guy more than twenty times my age. That's not too creepy. Shouldn't you be behind the glass, grandpa?**

She winks.

Rose investigates some of the other display cases. She sees a green meteor labeled "kryptonite", a gold energy weapon labeled "Item 47", the door of a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, a giant yellow wig alongside a Slim Whitman record, and finally something that really gets her attention...

**ROSE**  
**Doctor... Come take a look at this.**

The Doctor investigates a display case with a bluetooth device from the pilot inside, then turns to meet Rose. A step before he reaches her side, he freezes. The color drains from his face, like water spilling out of bucket with a hole in it.

**ROSE**  
**Remind you of anything?**

He takes a step closer and leans over to inspect the object; a sonic screwdriver.

**ROSE**  
**That looks a lot like your... you know, the thing in your pocket.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Sonic screwdriver. I told you that.**

**ROSE**  
**Right, that.**

The Doctor puts his hand in his jacket pocket and pulls out his sonic screwdriver to compare to the one in the glass display case. He aims the blunt end of it at the glass and swings.

**ROSE**  
**Wait, don't...**

She's too late to stop him. The glass shatters. Rose looks around, nervous that the noise and subsequent echo may have alerted someone to their presence.

**ROSE**  
**...break the glass.**

The Doctor sweeps away some glass shards and extracts the sonic screwdriver from the case. He holds it next to his own to confirm that they are indeed the same piece of hardware.

**ROSE**  
**Correction. It's the same as the thing in your pocket. How is that possible?**

The Doctor thinks. He grabs her hand and turns back.

**DOCTOR**  
**We have to go.**

He takes one step toward the Tardis when, out of the shadows, around twenty ARMED GUARDS rush in from all sides to cut them off.

**ARMED GUARD**  
**Freeze!**

**ARMED GUARD II**  
**Hands where we can see them!**

They both raise their hands.

**ROSE**  
**Told you not to break the glass.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Right.**

He sighs.

- OPENING CREDITS ROLL -

- To be Continued...-


	14. Chapter 14 - Death to the Doctor

EXT. HELIPAD – DAY

A military helicopter emerges from the glare of the sun as it flies in from the east over the desert. In the middle of the flat, dusty, terrain stands PAULA POLKOWSKI (38), a staunch woman without a sense of humor. She wears a black pants suit with a security badge latched to a purple tie.

Instead of landing, the helicopter hovers overhead and the door slides open. A man repels from it down to Paula's side, where she helps him undo his harness. This is VAN CLIVE (43), a new money CEO type with chutzpah to spare.

**PAULA**  
**Welcome back, sir.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Thank you.**

**PAULA**  
**And may I be the first on the ground to wish you a happy birthday. I think you're going to like your present.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**You had better hope so. I was in the middle of a business deal with President Hartnell. If you pulled me away from that over a security hiccup, I'm going to put you on a plane and drop you in an impoverished Middle Eastern city wearing a thong and pasties.**

**PAULA**  
**How did the meeting go?**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Let's just say he'll have to do better if he wants a second term.**

Free of his harness, Van Clive motions to the helicopter. The repelling line is drawn up and it flies away. Meanwhile, he and Paula open a previously hidden latch leading down into the secret underground facility.

INT. CORRIDOR

Van Clive marches through the corridor like a man with a mission. Armed guards salute as he passes by. He makes like he doesn't see them, but...

**VAN CLIVE**  
**The third one was a little late on his salute. He's fired.**

**PAULA**  
**Right, sir. With respect, about the intruders...**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Have they identified themselves?**

**PAULA**  
**The woman's name is Rose Taylor. We're running her profile through the CIA database, but they changed their firewalls again. It took us a couple of minutes to break back in.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Isn't it cute that they still try? They fail and fail and fail, but dammit, they get right back on that horse.**

**PAULA**  
**We weren't able to get a name out of the man. He keeps referring to himself as 'the Doctor'.**

Van Clive stops, grabs her arm.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Did you say... 'the Doctor'?**

**PAULA**  
**Yes.**

Van Clive pulls a red card out of his suit pocket. A key dangles from it. He hands them both to Paula.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Gonna need the red briefcase.**

Nervous, but excited, Paula's heart skips a beat. She stares at the key.

**PAULA**  
**The red one? Really, sir? I mean...**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**"Duh wed one? Reawwy?" Why are you still standing there when you should have run out ahead of me already? Get me the damn briefcase!**

She runs.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**And where are they?**

**PAULA**  
**Your office!**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**This is what I get for hiring family.**

He rolls his eyes and keeps walking.

At the end of the corridor, an elevator opens. ADAM, Van Clive's wide-eyed personal assistant, bolts out carrying a gun-shaped device. He spins out of the way of Paula, narrowly colliding with her as she enters the elevator to ride it down.

**PAULA**  
**Watch it, Adam!**

**ADAM**  
**Sorry, Paula.**

**PAULA**  
**That's Mrs. Polkowski to you, you little pri-**

The elevator doors shut before she finishes.

Adam runs up to Van Clive.

**ADAM**  
**Mr. Van Clive! Mr. Van Clive! Look what I bought at the Maywood auction. Paid eight hundred thousand for it. A steal, right?**

He hands Van Clive the gun. Van Clive points it at Adam and pulls the trigger five times in rapid succession.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Hm. Doesn't work.**

He tosses it in the air over his shoulder and keeps walking. Adam catches it, disappointed.

INT. VAN CLIVE'S OFFICE

The Doctor and Rose sit on ornate wooden chairs opposite a fifteen foot wide cherry behemoth of a desk. Two armed guards stand watch over them with handguns at the ready. The room is partially lit by artificial candlelight, to give it an old-fashioned feel, but there are also video screens embedded in the walls to look like windows. The image on the screen almost passes for a real forest, except when Rose notices something peculiar about the video.

**ROSE**  
**I think I saw that rabbit already.**

**DOCTOR**  
**It's not real. That's a video screen, on a loop. I think we're underground. Really really underground.**

**ROSE**  
**Is that why my head hurts?**

Two metal doors, painted to look like oak, swing open behind them. They turn to see Van Clive and Adam staring at them. Van Clive presses his hands together with his lips.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**(to the Doctor)**  
**Oh my god. It's you. It's really you.**

Van Clive walks up to the Doctor and shakes his hand vigorously.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**It is such an honor to meet me... I mean, you. Listen to me. I don't often get like this. I hate this. It's just, wow, you.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Me.**

Rose waves.

**ROSE**  
**And me.**

Van Clive ignores Rose.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Rumor was you were dead. **

**ROSE  
The rumors of his death appear to have been an exaggeration.**

Impressed, the Doctor smiles.

**DOCTOR  
Twain.**

Rose nods.

DOCTOR  
You know, I was there when he said that.

**ROSE  
Oh, shush. No, you weren't.**

**DOCTOR  
No, I wasn't.**

She laughs at his joke.

**VAN CLIVE  
Any-way... I never believed you were dead, but... Well, you can imagine.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I really can't. Why don't you explain it to me, whoever you are.**

Van Clive looks at him, confused, maybe even a little hurt. He tries to laugh it off, unconvincingly.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Like you don't know who I am.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I really don't.**

Paula races in carrying a red briefcase. She slams it down on the desk in front of Van Clive, louder than she had planned.

**PAULA**  
**(out of breath)**  
**Red briefcase.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Oh yeah, we're only in the middle of the desert, hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artifacts in the entire world, and you don't know who I am. Right. How the hell did you get in, by the way? We're a thousand feet down.**

Van Clive enters an eight-digit code into the lock on the red briefcase and it opens.

**ADAM**  
**This is Henry Van Clive. He owns the United States.**

**ROSE**  
**Don't be an idiot. No one owns the United States. It's a country. You can't own a country.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**A country drowning under twenty-eight trillion dollars of debt with no way to pay its bills. You see a flailing capitalist democracy. I saw a hostile takeover waiting to happen. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of me, though. In the interest of preserving civil sanity, the President and I thought it best if no one find out about it. But I am a little disappointed that you've never heard of me, Doctor. I would have thought someone so familiar with history would be well familiar with my work.**

Van Clive pulls various photographs from the briefcase and, one by one, places them in front of the Doctor on the desk. They are from all different times in history. The first one shows a picture of the Doctor during the American Civil War, posing alongside some Union soldiers. The second photograph shows the Doctor in the crowd during the Kennedy Assassination. The third photograph is actually of an Egyptian hieroglyph that shows a man holding a sonic screwdriver.

Van Clive points to the sonic screwdriver in the picture.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Look familiar?**

**ROSE**  
**(to the Doctor)**  
**You do get around. I used this one with General Lee in a Powerpoint presentation once.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**I've got pictures, journal entries, archaeological finds. I've spent my entire life piecing together the history of the Doctor, and what a history it is. I've even got a tabloid newspaper article from the early nineties where you and some guy and his daughter helped save the world from a dragon. I mean, wow!**

**DOCTOR**  
**You've done your homework, Van Clive. I'll give you that.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**I just never thought I'd get the chance to actually meet you.**

Van Clive pulls both sonic screwdrivers out of the briefcase. He shows the Doctor one of them.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**I got this when one of my agents smuggled it out of a top secret government facility years ago. Rumor was they confiscated it from an extra-terrestrial, but that he died while under their custody. Or was it this one?**

Van Clive alternates between showing the one sonic screwdriver versus its identical counterpart.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**This one? Or this one? This one? Or this one? This one? Or this one? It doesn't matter! Because they're the same damn one! Aren't they? What is it, anyway?**

The Doctor grabs them both from Van Clive, like a Dad pulling a toy away from a child.

**DOCTOR**  
**It's a bloody sonic screwdriver, you imp.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Damn, really? I was betting it was a laser torch or something.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Couldn't figure out what it was, so you locked it up behind glass, is that it? Can I expect the same treatment?**

While Van Clive and the Doctor converse, Rose seizes the opportunity to look through some of the things from the red briefcase. A tabloid newspaper article captures her attention. The headline reads "My Dad Saved the World from an Alien Dragon". Adam notices her reach for it and closes the briefcase. She has to pull her hand back to avoid it getting caught.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**No, no, you misunderstand me, Doctor. I'm thrilled you're here. You see, I may be an expert on... well.. just about everything when it comes to Earth, but I'm still just a novice when it comes to all this alien stuff. Whereas you, well, I can only imagine the wonders you've seen. And to be honest, I'm kind of counting on your expertise. You see, the 'sonic screwdriver' wasn't the only thing my man smuggled out of that government complex. You want to see my pet?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Your pet?**

Van Clive smiles.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Adam, tend to Miss Taylor. Get her a donut or something. Paula, I'm still waiting on that file. Check on the hold up. The Doctor and I will be in the cage.**

INT. CAGE OBSERVATION ROOM

A sadistic scientist of even temperament, SIMMONS, sits safely behind a computer screen surrounded by walls of solid concrete. To his right and behind him are two thick metal doors like one might find in a bank vault. Flashes of light reflect on his glasses as he watches whatever's happening in the next room. We hear the sound of electricity crackling each time Simmons presses a red button on his console. We also hear screaming.

The vault door behind him opens up and Van Clive and the Doctor step inside.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**This is Dr. Simmons, my head of research. Dr. Simmons, this is ****_THE_**** Doctor.**

Simmons flips a switch to turn off his monitor, then stands to shake the Doctor's hand.

**SIMMONS**  
**Doctor...**

The Doctor keeps his hand at his side. He sniffs the air.

**DOCTOR**  
**Why do I smell burning flesh?**

Simmons and Van Clive share a glance.

**DOCTOR**  
**You call yourself a Doctor?**

The Doctor runs to the other door, the one that leads into the cage.

**DOCTOR**  
**Open the door. Open this door, right now, Van Clive, or I'll use your head as a battering ram to knock it down.**

Despite the threat, Van Clive happily nods to Simmons, indicating he should follow the Doctor's command. Simmons enters the code to enter the vault door and it swings open. The Doctor rushes into the Cage.

INT. CAGE

The Doctor races inside. It's dark and there's smoke around. He holds his hand to his face to fight back against the smell. He squints his eyes to see.

**DOCTOR**  
**Hello? I'm not with Van Clive. I'm here to help.**

INT. CAGE OBSERVATION ROOM

Simmons turns the monitor back on. He and Van Clive watch the monitor and listen.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Close the door.**

Simmons clicks his keyboard and the vault door into the cage swings shut. On the monitor, we see the Doctor notice the door and then look directly at the video camera.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**All right, Doctor. Impress me.**

He smiles.

INT. CAGE

The Doctor scowls at the video camera in the corner of the room, then turns his attention back on the subject he still can't yet see.

**DOCTOR**  
**If you can hear me, if you can speak, say something. I'm here to help. I'm the Doctor.**

Something growls.

**UNKNOWN GROWL**  
**Doc-tor?**

The Doctor's face goes pale at the sound of the familiar voice.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh no. You?**

The lights come up in the cage. In front of the doctor, strapped to a vertical metal bed by steel cable is an eight-legged human head, scarred and mangled, missing one eye and a couple teeth. It is... what's left of... Daga Rumm.

**DAGA**  
**Death to the Doctor!** **Death to the Doctor!**

The Doctor backs up to the vault door, leans back, deflated.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, Daga.**

**DAGA**  
**Death to the Doctor! Death to the Doctor!**

Daga struggles against his restraints, screaming the same thing over and over. The Doctor slides down the door and sits with his head between his legs.

-To be Continued...-


	15. Chapter 15 - Puppet Master

INT. CAGE OBSERVATION ROOM

Armed guards enter the observation room and take position between the cage vault door and Van Clive. On the monitor, a weary Daga mumbles to himself.

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**Death... to the Doctor. Death to... the Doctor.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Open the door.**

Simmons keys in the code to open the door and the Doctor races in. The guards restrain him from getting right in Van Clive's face.

**DOCTOR**  
**Van Clive, you sadistic animal! What have you done to him? **

**VAN CLIVE**  
**What have I done? I'll have you know that thing wasn't much better off by the time I got a hold of it. And last I checked, it's not my name it keeps chanting over and over. It's not "death to Van Clive" it's saying. It's "death to the Doctor".**

**DOCTOR**  
**I demand that you release HIM into my custody immediately.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Yeah, that's a nice thought, champ, but I don't really see that happening. Will you people get him out of here?**

Van Clive's guards drag the Doctor away.

**DOCTOR**  
**You'll pay for what you've done, Van Clive. I promise you. You will pay.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Lucky for me I'm so rich. I can afford it!**

Van Clive saunters into the cage.

INT. CAGE

Spittle drools from the side of Daga's mouth. The fury that once burned inside of him to curse the Doctor has faded. Van Clive walks up to him, unafraid, and stares into Daga's one remaining eye.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**So, you can talk. Now, you're gonna talk to me.**

**DAGA**  
**Death... to the... Doctor.**

Van Clive sniffs Daga.

INT. ADAM'S WORKSHOP

Rose eats from a tray piled high with food; a hamburger, french fries, tuna salad, chicken fingers, pancakes, sausages, chili, even a pretzel. She takes the occasional break to breathe, which she sometimes skips in favor of chugging her milk, soda, or water.

Adam stares at her from a cluttered workbench a few feet away. He's frozen in the middle of toying with the antique ray gun he purchased at auction, dumbfounded by her all out assault on the tray of food. She notices his stare.

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**ADAM**  
**Nothing.**

**ROSE**  
**Do I have ketchup on my face or something?**

**ADAM**  
**No, you haven't missed yet.**

**ROSE**  
**I haven't eaten in, like, two days. Okay? Unless you count this weird buffet I went to, but I didn't eat much there. Too much of the stuff was moving, and then the room got hijacked by space terrorists. So, back off, Jillian Michaels.**

**ADAM**  
**Who?**

**ROSE**  
**Seriously?**

**ADAM**  
**You live an eventful life.**

**ROSE**  
**It's more of a new thing, actually.**

**ADAM**  
**I don't get out much, unless it's to work on something for Mr. Van Clive.**

She notices Adam's computer on a desk opposite the workbench. The screen asks for a password to login. She keeps eating.

**ADAM**  
**So, are you and the Doctor, you know...**

She pretends not to know where he's going with his question regarding the nature of their relationship. She waits for him to finish. He wants to ask the whole question, but...

**ADAM**  
**(chickens out)**  
**Time travellers?**

She shoves a whole pancake in her mouth to avoid the question.

**ADAM**  
**If I could travel anywhere in time, I'd go back and meet all the giants. Imagine standing behind the tree when the apple fell on Newton's head, or being a student of Kepler in Graz, or being at the Solvay Conference in 1927 with Einstein, Curie, and Bohr.**

**ROSE**  
**(spitting food)**  
**1928.**

She wipes her mouth and takes a sip of milk to help swallow.

ADAM  
I'm ninety-nine percent it was 1927.

**ROSE**  
**You want to fight about it? The fifth Solvay Conference on Electrons and Photons was held in Brussels in 1928. There were seventeen Nobel Prize winners in attendance to discuss quantum theory. Go on your computer. Look it up.**

Skeptical, Adam puts the gun down and wheels over to his computer. He enters his password to login and performs a search.

**ADAM**  
**Look, I've been idolizing these people since I was three. I think I know what year they held the Solvay Conference.**

He sees the screen.

**ADAM**  
**1927, told you so. I'm impressed you knew all that, though.**

**ROSE**  
**So glad I impress you. You geniuses are all alike. You think, because you're smarter than everyone else, nobody else knows anything at all.**

**ADAM**  
**I didn't say that. You just don't strike me as the... physics type.**

**ROSE**  
**And what 'type' is that? A woman?**

**ADAM**  
**I didn't say that.**

**ROSE**  
**A pretty woman?**

**ADAM**  
**I didn't say you were pretty.**

She raises an eyebrow.

**ADAM**  
**I mean, you are, pretty, I mean, very. Um. Okay. I've clearly insulted you somehow, and I'd really like to apologize for whenever that happened.**

**ROSE**  
**You know what I find really insulting? Van Clive and the Doctor are off somewhere in this super top-secret facility talking over matters of state and the universe, life and death, and whatever else, and I get pawned off on the flirting intern babysitter.**

**ADAM**  
**I wasn't flirting...**

**ROSE**  
**And another thing, there's a big huge guy with a big huge gun on the other side of that door, isn't there?**

She points to the closed door to his workshop.

**ADAM**  
**There are pretty much big huge guys with big huge guns all over this place.**

**ROSE**  
**So, am I a prisoner, or what?**

**ADAM**  
**No. I mean, in the sense that you can't leave, I guess. But...**

**ROSE**  
**I want to see the Doctor. I want to see him right now.**

**ADAM**  
**I'm not sure I'm allowed to-**

**ROSE**  
**You're not sure? Why don't you go find out? Come on, boy, get a clue.**

**ADAM**  
**Okay.**

He gets up from his workbench and hurries over to the door.

**ROSE**  
**Adam.**

He stops, turns around.

**ROSE**  
**You know the second you leave I'm gonna be all over your computer, right?**

He notices the computer. It's still unlocked from when he entered his password to look up the date of the conference. He hangs his head.

**ADAM**  
**You knew the conference was in 1927.**

**ROSE**  
**Little bit.**

**ADAM**  
**You were tricking me. And I fell for it.**

She nods. He walks back over to his workbench, locks his computer, and sits back down to tinker with the ray gun.

**ROSE**  
**Well, you don't have to pout about it.**

**ADAM**  
**So, why didn't you let me walk out the door?**

**ROSE**  
**Because you seem like a nice guy, just caught up with the wrong kind of people. And I'm sitting here, stuffing my face, trying to figure out why I'm the only person in this room who knows that. Chicken wing?**

He accepts the chicken wing.

**ADAM**  
**You don't even know Mr. Van Clive and you just assume he's a bad guy.**

**ROSE**  
**Tell me I'm wrong.**

Adam picks the skin off the chicken wing and throws it in the trash. He nibbles on the meat to bide his time.

**ADAM**  
**When I was seven, my parents enrolled me in a school for the gifted called the Revolution Institute. It was based out of Washington DC, and my family was from Colorado. My parents didn't have a lot of money, but I was recruited, so they offered me free room, board, the whole thing. It was kind of like a private school, but a lot more specialized. Mr. Van Clive graduated from the program years before me.**

Rose wipes her mouth and hands and moves the tray of food to the side. She steps up to the workbench and sits on the side.

**ADAM**  
**One day, a counselor pulls me away from the research I was working on regarding sub-atomic singularities as alternative fuel sources, and she tells me there was a fire back home. My entire family was killed.**

Rose gasps.

**ADAM**  
**They didn't really know what to do with me at that point. I was in the program on scholarship. I had nowhere to go, and I was still a minor. It didn't make much sense to place me with a foster family. So, they just kept me in the program. That's when Mr. Van Clive took an interest in my work. When I was old enough, he offered me a job. He told me he would set me up so I could continue all the work I was already doing, but with a much bigger bank roll behind it. I didn't know what else to do, so I accepted. Mr. Van Clive is the closest thing I have to a father.**

**ROSE**  
**That doesn't make him a good one.**

**ADAM**  
**Spoken like someone who has one.**

**ROSE**  
**Actually, it was just me and my mother growing up. I never knew my Dad.**

**ADAM**  
**Oh. Sorry.**

**ROSE**  
**No, it's all right.**

Awkward moment.

**ADAM**  
**Hey, you know, maybe there's a way I can show you the Doctor without actually leaving the room.**

Adam enters his password into his computer for a second time. He enters several more keystrokes to bring up a series of surveillance camera images from inside the facility.

**ROSE**  
**How?**

**ADAM**  
**This place has state of the art surveillance every step of the way. I just need to find him. I think they were headed for the cage.**

Rose leans in. The image on the screen changes to surveillance of the cage, the same image that was previously seen on Simmons' screen. Van Clive is in the room, standing in between the camera and Daga, who we can't see.

**ROSE**  
**I don't see the Doctor.**

**ADAM**  
**He was with Mr. Van Clive.**

**ROSE**  
**Well, he's not with him now.**

On the screen, Van Clive moves and Rose sees Daga, his metal arachnid body restrained to the bed.

**ROSE**  
**Oh my god. That's Daga.**

**ADAM**  
**Daga? You know what that is?**

**ROSE**  
**You have to get me down there, right now. Right now!**

She drags him out of his chair and pushes him to the door.

INT. CAGE OBSERVATION ROOM

We hear Daga's screaming over the loudspeaker as Simmons keeps his hand pressed to the electrocution button. Paula enters, carrying a thick file on Rose's background. She briefly catches a glimpse of the monitor, covers her mouth, and looks away. Simmons releases the button.

**VAN CLIVE (V.O.)**  
**Talk to me, you alien mutant!**

**PAULA**  
**I need to see Henry.**

**SIMMONS**  
**He's indisposed.**

**VAN CLIVE (V.O.)**  
**Hit him again, Simmons!**

Simmons hits the button again. Daga screams.

**PAULA**  
**I have some information on the girl he might find... interesting. There's more to her story than we knew.**

Simmons sighs and releases the button. He presses another button for the intercom and leans over to speak into a microphone.

**SIMMONS**  
**Sir, Paula's here. She says she has some information for you about the girl.**

INT. CAGE

An incensed Van Clive turns back toward the camera, seething with rage.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Tell her to wait one damn minute!**

Van Clive approaches Daga, whose one eye is rolled back in his head. He grabs Daga's mauled face with both hands and screams.

**VAN CLIVE**  
**I know you can talk. I know you can hear me and understand everything I'm saying to you. Let me tell you something, this is only going to get worse unless you cooperate. Now, tell me what you know!**

Daga smiles and stares back at Van Clive, going from catatonic to fully aware in an instant.

**DAGA**  
**I know you should never have come so close.**

One of Daga's eight metal legs wriggles free of his restraints and he uses it to impale Van Clive in the temple.

INT. CAGE OBSERVATION ROOM

Rose and Adam run inside, too late.

**ROSE**  
**You have to get him out of there!**

Confusion erupts in the room as Simmons and Paula see Van Clive impaled on the monitor. Horrified, Paula turns to the guards.

**PAULA**  
**Get in there, now!**

Simmons and the guards run inside the cage.

INT. CAGE

Still very much alive, Van Clive is powerless to stop Daga from using his body to open up the rest of the restraints. Once free, Daga climbs up Van Clive's body and installs himself on top of the man's head by using his other seven spider legs to impale Van Clive's skull.

The guards rush in and target their weapons on Van Clive, but Simmons warns them off.

**SIMMONS**  
**Don't shoot. You'll hit Mr. Van Clive!**

Rejuvenated and mad as hell, Daga springs into action, wielding Van Clive's body as a puppet. He attacks the closest guard, pulling the rifle from the man's hands and using the butt of it to smack the man in the face. He then aims the rifle and shoots the other three guards before turning it on Simmons.

Simmons throws his hands in the air.

**SIMMONS**  
**Please don't kill me. I was only following orders!**

**DAGA / VAN CLIVE**  
**That's why I'm going to let you live.**

Daga shoots Simmons in both legs and both arms. He stands over his torturer with satisfaction.

**DAGA / VAN CLIVE**  
**Death is too good for you. Suffer a life without mobility. Without freedom. That's all you deserve.**

Daga looks up at the video camera.

INT. CAGE

Paula, Rose, and Adam look on in horror as Daga stares at them through the video camera from atop his Van Clive puppet.

**DAGA / VAN CLIVE**  
**Oooooooh. Rose is here, too. Hi, Rose.**

**ROSE**  
**Shut the door. Close the door!**

**PAULA**  
**I don't know how.**

**ADAM**  
**I can do it.**

Adam pushes forward to the console and keys in the code to lock the door. It swings shut just in time. They let loose a collective exhale.

INT. CAGE

Daga approaches a console on the wall next to the door. He slowly enters in a command code.

INT. CAGE OBSERVATION ROOM

Rose sees this on the monitor.

**ROSE**  
**What's he doing?**

**PAULA**  
**Oh my god, he's got my brother's override codes.**

They hear the door open.

**ADAM**  
**Run!**

They run out.

INT. VARIOUS CORRIDORS

Paula, Rose, and Adam run for their lives. They make it to an intercom station and Paula stops, quickly pressing a few buttons which initiates a red alert. An intermittent siren blares. She speaks over the intercom.

**PAULA**  
**Condition red! Condition red! All security to the lower level.**

INT. BRIG

Behind bars, guarded by two men, the Doctor listens to the siren and Paula's announcement.

**PAULA (V.O.)**  
**This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. The creature has taken control of Mr. Van Clive.**

The scared and confused guards look at each other, then the Doctor.

**DOCTOR**  
**Release me if you want to live.**

They consider their options.

-To be Continued...-


	16. Chapter 16 - The Doctor's Secret

INT. VARIOUS CORRIDORS

As men carrying rifles push by them, Rose, Adam, and Paula flee for their lives. Gun fire can be heard in the distance. They reach the elevator and all climb inside.

INT. ELEVATOR

Paula pushes the button for the top floor. The doors shut and the elevator begins its ascent.

**ROSE**  
**Wait. We have to find the Doctor.**

**PAULA**  
**No, we have to get the hell out of here.**

**ADAM**  
**What about Mr. Van Clive?**

Before the argument can continue, the lights go out and the elevator grinds to a halt. They scream and fall. Red emergency lights flicker on to reveal Rose has fallen into Adam's arms.

**ROSE**  
**What happened? Are we falling?**

**LOUDSPEAKER (V.O.)**  
**Level one containment initiated. Level one containment initiated.**

**ROSE**  
**What the hell does that mean?**

She turns to Adam, with each of them simultaneously realizing that he's been holding her close. He let's go and she stands.

**ADAM**  
**A level one containment can only be initiated by Mr. Van Clive.**

**PAULA**  
**He must have my brother's command codes.**

**ROSE**  
**But what does it mean?**

Paula and Adam share a glance before he answers.

**ADAM**  
**No one in or out.**

Rose's shoulders sink at the news.

INT. BRIG

With only emergency lighting in place, the guards appear more nervous than ever. The Doctor uses the zipper of his leather jacket to clang the metal bars of his cell.

**DOCTOR**  
**Hey! Bipeds! Open the damn cell!**

Gunshots sound from out in the hall. Like heroes, the Doctor's guards run out to meet the threat and, also like heroes, are killed for their bravery. One of them manages to drag himself back inside the brig with his one good arm. He looks at the Doctor, blood dripping from his mouth. He reaches for the key to open the Doctor's cell, which he has on a clip attached to his vest, but goes limp before he can hand it off.

The Doctor reaches his arm through the bars, but he's nowhere close enough to grab the man or the key. His efforts are further interrupted when Daga, his head still installed atop Van Clive's skull, appears in the doorway. He holds an assault rifle at his side and stares at the Doctor with venom. Van Clive's suit is stained red with the blood of his victims.

The Doctor sees him and stands up straight, helpless to defend himself against a most vile adversary.

**DOCTOR**  
**Daga, I'm sorry for what happened to you. If I had known what they were going to do to you, I never would have left you with-**

**DAGA**  
**Shhhh. Shh. Shh. Shh. You and I are far beyond excuses at this point, I think, Doctor. What is done is done. But you have provided the one answer that has long eluded me, though I did suspect the truth.**

Daga steps over the lifeless guard to approach the cell.

**DAGA**  
**The truth that you and I are not so different. No, we are the same, you and I. Just two lonely old men; you, the last of the Time Lords, and I, the last in the Order of Vox.**

**DOCTOR**  
**(crushed)**  
**Your sister?**

**DAGA**  
**They made me watch as they slaughtered her, dissected her like a lab creature. I begged them, she begged... for her life. And then, when they were done cutting her, they came to me, and they cut me out of my body. No man can be prepared for such an experience. It drove me positively insane, and that is how I existed on this world, alone in my madness for so very long, until this fool Van Clive so generously lent to me his clarity, or what passes for it on this pathetic, underdeveloped, neander-planet. And that is how I came to know your dark secret, the one you keep from her.**

Daga takes another step closer. He leans forward so his eyes are in line with the Doctor's when he whispers the following.

**DAGA**  
**I know who you really are.**

The Doctor blinks, and Daga revels in his victory.

**DOCTOR**  
**Daga, please, I can fix this. I can help you.**

**DAGA**  
**Shhh. Shh. Shh. You have cheated, eh? And I have suffered for it. To wit, I shall make you suffer. I will bring her here and make you watch. I know how to hurt you, now, Doctor. And I will hurt you. And then I will kill you. And when it is done, I will take your Tardis and find you again, and I will kill you again.**

Daga his back and walks toward the door.

**DOCTOR**  
**Daga! Dagaaaa!**

The Doctor practically climbs the walls of his cell, powerless to stop Daga from leaving.

INT. ELEVATOR

Paula and Rose on one side, Adam on the other, the three of them pull with all of their might on the elevator doors to pry them open.

**ROSE**  
**Pull!**

The doors slide open with the elevator stuck between floors. Adam kneels down.

**ADAM**  
**Here, I'll help you up.**

He offers support to help Paula and Rose climb up.

INT. CORRIDOR

Paula climbs up into the red-lit corridor, followed by Rose. Rose then turns to help Adam up while Paula surveys their surroundings.

**PAULA**  
**Sub-level twenty. We could climb the stairwell to the top floor, but the doors are sealed due to the containment protocol.**

**ROSE**  
**That's good, right? We're up here and Daga's down there.**

**PAULA**  
**With my brother's command codes, Daga will be able to move freely about the facility. He can use any door, any lift, restore power to any section, cut power. He has total control. We have nothing.**

Rose thinks.

**ROSE**  
**That's not true. What level is Van Clive's office on? The one we were in before.**

**PAULA**  
**Why?**

**ADAM**  
**SL-15.**

**ROSE**  
**The Doctor's sonic screwdriver. It can control technology and... things. I don't know how it works. But I've used it before. If we can get to it, I can probably use it to open the doors, I think.**

**PAULA**  
**That's great, except it's five levels up and there's no way to get to it.**

The loudspeaker clicks on.

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**I can see you, Rose.**

**ROSE**  
**What the hell?**

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**Hear you, too, potty mouth.**

Adam sees something, taps Rose on the shoulder and points. She looks in that direction and sees a security camera.

INT. BRIG

The Doctor listens.

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**Good girl. Now, as much fun as it would be to hunt you down like a dog, there's no reason we have to draw this out.**

The Doctor punches one of the bars.

INT. SECURITY ROOM

Van Clive holds a microphone to Daga's mouth as he watches Rose on one of ten security monitors.

**DAGA**  
**I'm going to make it simple. The Doctor is located in the brig on sub-level forty-eight. I will restore power to the elevator if you agree to meet me there, and we can have our big happy reunion. If you don't, I will be forced to kill every single person left alive in this facility.**

INT. CORRIDOR

Rose, Paula, and Adam listen.

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**To those of you still out there, if Rose Taylor doesn't agree to meet me, I am offering freedom to whoever brings her to me... alive... and unharmed. Keep in mind that you are underground and I am in control of the ventilation and security systems. She is on sub-level twenty, near elevator A. Try anything funny, and I will cut the flow of air to your entire floor.**

Voices from the other end of the corridor draw their attention away from the omniscient voice over the loudspeaker. We see beams of light from rifle mounted flashlights approaching the corner.

**ROSE**  
**Oh, crap!**

Adam grabs Rose's arm and the two of them run down the hall, with Paula not far behind. They don't get very far before they see another pair of flashlights approaching and have to turn again.

**ADAM**  
**In here.**

Adam approaches the door to his workshop and enters his authorization code. The code is accepted and he opens the door.

INT. ADAM'S WORKSHOP

All three move inside and Adam quickly closes the door behind them. We hear it lock. Adam moves to the workbench.

**ADAM**  
**Help me!**

Rose and Paula help Adam drag the workbench in front of the door. Out of breath, they lean against it for a brief respite.

**PAULA**  
**How were you able to open the door?**

**ADAM**  
**It's a padlock. It isn't part of the automated systems.**

**ROSE**  
**So, it's mechanical?**

**ADAM**  
**Yeah, why?**

Rose grabs Adam and Paula and yanks them down and away as bullets blast through the door around the padlock. With the padlock out of commission, the guards ram the door, trying to push through.

The golden ray gun Adam had been tinkering with earlier falls off the edge of the workbench and lands on the ground near where Rose is cowering. It makes a sound, like the buzzing of bees, which Rose hears. She sees it and grabs it.

The guards push their way through the door and the workbench and enter the room. There's four of them, and they spread out in a semi-circle and surround Rose, Paula, and Adam.

**GUARD 1**  
**Don't move.**

**GUARD 2**  
**Rose Taylor, we need you to come with us.**

Paula stands and approaches the guards with a stern voice.

**PAULA**  
**Gentlemen, do you have any idea who the hell I am? How dare you point your weapons at me. My brother signs your paychecks. You don't take orders from some maniac. You take them from me! Now, lower your damn weapons!**

They hesitate, but ultimately comply with her command.

**PAULA**  
**Good.**

Paula walks over to them.

**PAULA**  
**Now, take that girl into custody. She's our ticket out of here.**

**ADAM**  
**Paula, you bitch!**

The guards raise their weapons again and point them at Adam and Rose.

**PAULA**  
**That's Mrs. Polkowski to you.**

Rose raises the ray gun and points it at Paula.

**ROSE**  
**Hold it. I-I don't want to use this.**

**ADAM**  
**Rose, what are you doing?**

**PAULA**  
**That thing doesn't even work.**

Rose points it away from the the guards and targets the workbench. She pulls the trigger. A beam of concentrated blue energy burns a whole through the bench, the door, and the wall across the corridor. Everyone is caught by surprise.

Rose again points the gun at Paula.

**ROSE**  
**Pretty good for something that doesn't even work, huh?**

**ADAM**  
**Oh my god, I bought something that works.**

**PAULA**  
**Oh my god, he bought something that works.**

**ROSE**  
**And I'm not afraid to use it. So, you'd better-**

Adam notices one of the guards focusing his aim.

**ADAM**  
**Look out!**

The guard fires just as Adam leaps in front of Rose. The two of them crash to the ground. The guards take advantage of the situation. They disarm Rose and tackle Adam. Paula recovers the ray gun.

**ROSE**  
**Adam? Adam?!**

Rose crawls over to Adam. There's blood on the ground and it gets on her hands. She wipes it off on her shirt.

**GUARD 3**  
**I was aiming for her arm, you idiot. I was gonna wing her.**

**ROSE**  
**Give me some light.**

One of the guards uses the flashlight mounted on his rifle to illuminate Adam's wound. It's a through and through on the left side of his chest. He bleeds profusely.

**ROSE**  
**We need something to stop the bleeding!**

**ADAM**  
**Rose, are you- are you- okay?**

**ROSE**  
**I'm okay.**

**ADAM**  
**I didn't mean... to lie to you... before.**

**ROSE**  
**Lie to me? About what?**

**ADAM**  
**If I had a time machine... I wouldn't use it... to meet some old scientists... I'd use it... to save my family.**

He convulses. His breath fades. His body goes still and his head rolls back. Rose cries as Adam dies in her arms.

**ROSE**  
**Adam. Adam, no...**

From a distance, Paula sees Adam slip away. She searches the ceiling for a surveillance camera and finds one in the far corner. She drags a chair over to it and stands on the chair.

**PAULA**  
**All right, you bastard. Now, you listen to me. I don't accept your terms. I have Rose. You won't cut the air, because you'll kill her, too. You hear me?**

She taps on the surveillance camera lens.

INT. SECURITY

Paula's face takes up most of one of the monitors as Daga watches. He smiles as he mostly pays attention to the little bit of screen where he can see behind Paula to Rose crying on the floor.

He speaks into the microphone.

**DAGA**  
**I'm listening.**

**PAULA (V.O.)**  
**First, you're going to let me into my brother's office on SL-15.**

**DAGA**  
**So you can recover the Doctor's toy?**

**PAULA (V.O.)**  
**That's right. A little insurance policy in case you have any thoughts about betraying me.**

INT. ADAM'S WORKSHOP

Paula continues to list her terms.

**PAULA**  
**Then, you're going to let me, Rose, and my men ride the lift to the surface. Once we're out, we'll leave Rose in the lift, and you can have her. If you don't agree, I'll kill her right now, and you can forget about whatever revenge you had planned.**

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**Deal.**

Paula seems taken aback at his easy acceptance of her terms.

**PAULA**  
**Okay, good.**

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**Lift A is re-activated. At your leisure, madam.**

Paula steps down from the chair and walks over to her men.

**GUARD 1**  
**(whispers)**  
**That was too easy.**

**PAULA**  
**(whispers)**  
**I know.**

She grabs Rose by the arm.

**PAULA**  
**Get up.**

Rose resists, eyes Paula with an evil glower.

**ROSE**  
**You don't even care he's dead, do you?**

**PAULA**  
**As long as we're stuck down here with Daga, we're all just as dead as he is. Now, get up.**

She pulls Rose to her feet and gets a slap across the face for her trouble. The guards restrain Rose so she can't do it again.

**PAULA**  
**Bring her.**

They escort Rose out of the workshop, leaving Adam's lifeless body on the floor.

-To be Continued...-


	17. Chapter 17 - How to Hurt the Doctor

INT. SUB-LEVEL 15 CORRIDOR

The elevator doors open to reveal Rose being held at gunpoint by Paula and the three armed guards. Paula pushes Rose in the back, forcing her out first. They walk the silent, dark, corridor.

**ROSE**  
**Do you even know who Daga is? He's a maniac. He tried to use mind control to enslave the human race as part of some intergalactic business swindle. To him, we're just cattle. No, worse, bugs.**

**PAULA**  
**Are you describing Daga or my brother? Because they sound an awful lot alike. This way.**

She directs Rose around a corner.

**ROSE**  
**And now you're using me to try to buy your freedom. I'm sure you would make him very proud.**

**PAULA**  
**I'm nothing like Henry. He didn't even trust me with the command codes to override the level one containment. If anything ever went wrong, and he wasn't here, he was content with letting everyone in the facility rot down here and die.**

They reach Van Clive's office and Paula reaches for the door lever. It's locked.

**PAULA**  
**Daga, you have to open the door.**

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**I'll unlock the door under one condition. Only you are allowed inside.**

**PAULA**  
**That wasn't the deal.**

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**I'm changing the deal.**

Paula seeks out the nearest surveillance camera and presses Adam's ray gun to Rose's head.

**PAULA**  
**I won't be separated from Rose. She's my only guarantee you won't hurt me.**

A beat.

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**Very well. You and Rose can enter the office, but your men stay in the hall.**

We hear the door unlock.

**PAULA**  
**You men stand watch. Rose, inside.**

Paula opens the door and then backs away to let Rose in first. The three guards take up defensive positions outside the door.

INT. VAN CLIVE'S OFFICE

Paula shuts the door, then immediately lowers her weapon and heads for the desk. She grabs one of the sonic screwdrivers and puts it in her pocket. She tosses the second one to Rose.

**PAULA**  
**We don't have a lot of time. Hide that on you.**

**ROSE**  
**What's going on?**

**PAULA**  
**Look around. There aren't any surveillance cameras in here. My brother didn't like the idea of his own security personnel spying on him, probably because of his compulsive pornography addiction. Why he even bothered when he could have had any woman in the world, at the same time, is anyone's best guess. Hell, I would've slept with him if it got me into his will.**

**ROSE**  
**Ew. That's your brother.**

**PAULA**  
**And he's ****_that_**** rich, which is why he thought anyone explicitly named in his will would try and kill him, paranoid son of a bitch. Now, you're a time traveller. You can prevent any of this from ever happening if we can get you back to your time machine, am I right? Adam, Daga's takeover, everything.**

**ROSE**  
**The Doctor's the only one who knows how to operate the Tardis.**

**PAULA**  
**You've got to be kidding me. He didn't teach you how?**

**ROSE**  
**No.**

**PAULA**  
**Well, what kind of crap is that? After everything you've been through together, you never learned?**

**ROSE**  
**We've only been together for a few days, my time.**

**PAULA**  
**But... your file... I...**

They hear banging coming from the door and hurry over. They pull on it, but it's locked.

**ROSE**  
**He locked us in.**

**PAULA**  
**Why would he do that?**

Rose thinks.

**ROSE**  
**He said he had control of the ventilation system. Would that include this room?**

**PAULA**  
**No. My brother's office is totally isolated from the rest of the facility. No security, different ventilation ducts... Oh no.**

Behind them, Van Clive's personal computer turns on. We see a surveillance camera view of the three guards out in the hall as they pound on the door to get in, holding their breath so as not to breath in a strange gas filling the corridor.

Rose and Paula notice the computer screen and walk over. They watch as, one by one, each man falls over dead from the gas.

**ROSE**  
**Oh my god. What's happening to them?**

**PAULA**  
**That's redrozozine gas. Poison. They're dead.**

A retro-style turn dial phone on the desk rings three times before a stunned Paula can bring herself to answer it. Despite its appearance, there is a speakerphone feature, which Paula elects to use.

**PAULA**  
**Hello.**

**DAGA (V.O.)**  
**You seem to be under the impression that you're in control here. I hope I've corrected the error in your line of thinking, but if I haven't, there are two hundred people on the various levels of this facility, and I can release redrozozine gas on each one of them. It will take approximately seven minutes for the ventilation system to recycle the air on sub-level fifteen to where it reaches breathable levels. If you and Rose are not on the elevator in seven minutes and twenty seconds, every single person still alive in this facility will die.**

Dial tone. The computer monitor goes dark.

**ROSE**  
**What do we do now?**

**PAULA**  
**Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to have to go with the original plan.**

Paula points the ray gun at Rose. Rose sulks.

INT. BRIG

The Doctor looks up. Daga steps inside and grabs the cell key from the dead guard on the ground. He aims his rifle at the Doctor and then tosses him the key.

**DAGA**  
**Open the cell and walk out slowly. We're going for a walk.**

**DOCTOR**  
**If I refuse?**

**DAGA**  
**Come now, Doctor. You and I both realize I'm committing the cardinal sin of not shooting you when I have the chance. Is now really the time to test my patience?**

The Doctor reaches his hand through the cell bars and opens his own cell door. He steps out, slowly, with his hands raised.

**DAGA**  
**Come on. Let's go.**

Daga escorts him out.

INT. VAN CLIVE'S OFFICE

Paula and Rose wait by the door as the clock on the wall clicks down the seconds.

**PAULA**  
**Two minutes.**

**ROSE**  
**This is ridiculous. I thought you were helping me.**

**PAULA**  
**That's when I thought you would help us. Now, I realize even you and the Doctor are just like my brother.**

**ROSE**  
**I don't know what you're talking about.**

**PAULA**  
**I had your file. I know what happens to you.**

**ROSE**  
**What do you mean, "what happens to me"?**

**PAULA**  
**You said you've only been with the Doctor for a few days, but we were able to confirm at least six sightings of you with the Doctor throughout history. But if you haven't done any of those things yet, it can only mean you're going to do them in the future. So, you make it out of here alive.**

**ROSE**  
**That's a good thing. It means I can go back and save everyone.**

**PAULA**  
**But you don't, Rose. Adam's dead. My brother is dead... I think. Those three men outside the door are dead. And we're still dealing with Daga. Which means when you escape, you and the Doctor go off on your merry way, and everything that's happened here stays the same.**

She looks at the clock.

**PAULA**  
**One minute.**

At the sound of Adam's name, Rose looks down at her shirt and hands. His dried blood is still on her. She doesn't understand, or know what to do.

**ROSE**  
**Paula, I promise, when the Doctor and I leave here, the first thing we're going to do is go back in time and figure out a way to stop Daga, to stop all of this from happening. The Doctor is a good man. The Tardis is good. They won't let this happen.**

**PAULA**  
**You're lying to save your life. Thirty seconds.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not lying!**

**PAULA**  
**It's already happened! I've been living my life under someone else's boot my whole life. I won't do it anymore. This is my chance. With my brother gone, I can do something with my life, be my own woman. I'm going to make it out of here, whether your help me or not, whether the Doctor helps me or not. It's time I take control of fate. It's time I make something out of myself. From here on out, I'm in charge of me, not my brother, not Daga, not you! I'm getting out of here and I'm going to live!**

They hear the door unlock. Rose reaches for the lever and opens the door. In the same second, a shot rings out. Paula's head snaps back, a new hole right in the center of her forehead. Rose screams, ducks, after the fact, but it's reactionary. On the ground, she turns around and sees Paula's body fall backwards onto the floor.

In the corridor, Daga stands behind the Doctor, his rifle still in position from where he sniped Paula dead.

**DAGA**  
**Some people really need to come to the realization that not everything is about them.**

The Doctor ignores the fact that Daga still has a gun pointed at him and moves to Rose's side. He sees the blood on her shirt and hands.

**DOCTOR**  
**Are you all right? Are you bleeding?**

**ROSE**  
**It's... I'm...**

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose!**

He grabs her face and forces her to look him in the eyes.

**DOCTOR**  
**Are you all right?**

**ROSE**  
**Adam's dead.**

He kisses her forehead and holds her a moment.

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm sorry.**

A shot rings out. Both Rose and the Doctor jump at the sound.

**DAGA**  
**Okay, all right. Very heartwarming. Now, back to the elevator.**

The Doctor takes Rose's hand and they walk together at gunpoint.

INT. UNDERGROUND MUSEUM

The elevator doors open and Daga motions Rose and the Doctor forward.

**DAGA**  
**Here we go. Sub-level 53. Go.**

They walk through the maze of alien artifacts. We see meteorites, metal fragments, weapons, ancient artifacts, etc…

**DOCTOR**  
**What are we doing here, Daga?**

**DAGA**  
**You're going to teach me how to operate your time machine, the thing you call the Tardis.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Not bloody likely. And the Tardis is a living being, with a mind and soul all its own. It won't respond to a despot's commands, even if I showed you how.**

**DAGA**  
**You're a living being, with a mind and soul, and you're pretty much doing everything I tell you to do. A rifle can be a pretty convincing motivator. But, even if that doesn't work, it's just lucky for me I'm pretty good with technology and getting my way.**

**ROSE**  
**You're going to try and install yourself in the Tardis.**

**DAGA**  
**Careful, Doctor, she's a few steps ahead of you.**

They approach the blue telephone booth of the Tardis' cockpit and the Doctor stops. Rose follows suit.

**DOCTOR**  
**No, I won't assist in your quest to butcher time for your own personal gains.**

**DAGA**  
**That's very interesting coming from you, since that's pretty much all you're about, isn't it? You're a selfish being, Doctor. At first, I thought it was just that you placed your self-righteous sense of morality above the will of the rest of the universe. I had you pegged as the pinnacle of arrogance, to set yourself atop a pedestal and massage the course of nature into your picturesque dream. But you're worse than that. You're a hypocrite. For all your evolved sensibilities, you are nothing more than a critic! You create nothing, but manipulate everything. You are a reaction! Your very existence is dependent on there being something to judge, something somebody else created, and because you sit in the big chair, you think yourself above it all. But I know the truth. I know your weakness. And I know who you really are, deep down. You're a failure. You're just someone who couldn't cut it in the real world, who couldn't create, and collaborate, and support an independent thought if it bit him the ass, and so you persecute others between the lines.**

**ROSE**  
**(whispers to the Doctor)**  
**What the hell is he talking about?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Haven't the foggiest. **

**DAGA**  
**Don't lie! Don't make fun of me and don't lie! I won't let you lie anymore! Now, I am judge and jury, and I pronounce you guilty as charged.**

Daga walks over to the glass case with one of his Bluetooth headsets inside and he keys in a code to unlock it. The glass case ascends and he pushes over the block with the display stand. He then drags the Doctor over and restores the case, locking the Doctor inside.

**DAGA**  
**I spent twelve years being tortured by the American government. They shocked me, cut me, beat me, injected me with poisons like fire in my blood. They drowned me, exposed me to intense lights and sounds, to endless solitude and darkness. They starved me and withheld water until my lips cracked and bled and I drank my own blood. I watched my sister die in front of me. I watched them do everything they could think of to destroy me, to break me, but they couldn't!**

Crying, Daga grabs Rose and slams her against the glass. He slaps her across the face.

**DAGA**  
**They couldn't break me. I beat them. They wanted my secrets, but I held on to them no matter what they did to me, even when all I wanted was for them to kill me. I reached into the sky, and I prayed to whichever gods would listen, and I begged for them to strike me down. I repented. But there was no one to listen. There was no rescue, and do you know why, Rose? Because there is no justice. There is none in space nor time, not for those of us who really stand for something. And yet you side with him!**

**ROSE**  
**What do you want from me?!**

**DAGA**  
**I want you to know!**

He throws her to the ground and points the rifle at the Doctor.

**DAGA**  
**I want you to know that, for twelve years, the man you put behind a cage for having the audacity to try and make this world a better place, while you went off gallivanting across time with your savior, your hero, I didn't break! But he did!**

Rose looks at the Doctor, confused.

**DAGA**  
**That's right. Because it wasn't just me and my sister they had trapped in that prison. It was your Doctor, too. And they didn't even have to try hard, either, before he was singing like a kithcat to a double moon. Where do you think they got the sonic screwdriver from? It was his. He gave them everything, showed them how to use technology, told them everything they wanted. That's the truth about your Doctor, that he's weak.**

Daga steps back, raises the head of the rifle.

**DAGA**  
**His real secret is that underneath the leather jacket, neatly pressed shirt, and handsome façade, all the ethics and all the scruples and all the integrity simply melts away, and all you have to do is hurt him...**

Daga points the rifle right at Rose's head.

**DOCTOR**  
**Daga, don't.**

**DAGA**  
**… just a little...**

Daga leans over, sets his sights on his target.

**DOCTOR**  
**Don't hurt her!**

**DAGA**  
**… right where he's really vulnerable.**

Daga's finger tightens around the trigger. Rose closes her eyes.

**DOCTOR**  
**I'll kill you! So help me, Daga, I swear to every god you ever prayed to, if you hurt her, I'll-**

Daga fires!

- To be Continued...-


	18. Chapter 18 - Cheater Who

INT. UNDERGROUND MUSEUM

Rose opens her eyes, astonished to find herself still alive and relatively unharmed. She looks to her left and sees a skinny plume of smoke rising up from a small bullet hole in the ground.

From behind the glass, the Doctor exhales in relief. His respite is short lived, however, as Daga steps up close to the glass.

**DAGA**  
**How did it feel, Doctor? To be trapped behind glass and powerless to stop a madman from harming the only person in your life who means anything to you?**

The Doctor seethes.

**DAGA**  
**Now, ask yourself, what are the odds I'll miss twice?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'll help you.**

**ROSE**  
**Doctor, you can't! There's no telling what he'll do if he has the Tardis.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Just don't hurt her.**

Daga smiles. He opens the glass case to let the Doctor out, then walks over and grabs Rose. He holds the rifle to her back.

**DAGA**  
**Into the Tardis. Now.**

The Doctor walks over to the Tardis and opens it.

INT. TARDIS

The Doctor enters the Tardis and takes position next to the command console. Daga keeps his weapon pointed at Rose, but can't help himself. He surveys the impressive interior of the mighty timeship.

**DAGA**  
**It's even more impressive than I could have imagined. How does it work?**

**DOCTOR**  
**These controls over here. Those control pitch, vector, re-entry. Those control timestream placement. Over here is galaxy, sector, and system.**

**DAGA**  
**Marvelous. Move over there.**

Rose and the Doctor both move to the far wall so Daga can work.

**DOCTOR**  
**But I already told you, the Tardis is a creature of perfect morality. It won't respond to your commands.**

One of Daga's spider legs rips free from Van Clive's skull.

**DAGA**  
**We... will just... see about... that!**

Daga uninstalls himself from atop Van Clive's head. As soon as the last of his spider legs is free, Van Clive's eyes roll back in his head and he falls dead on the floor.

**ROSE**  
**That is messed up.**

Daga climbs the command console and prepares to install himself.

**DAGA**  
**Today, I beat you, Doctor. Today, Daga wins.**

Daga jams his spider legs into the Tardis console. Golden sparks erupt from the console as the rest of the lights flicker. A growl erupts from cylindrical core, one of anguish, but also anger. The entire room shakes like from an earthquake.

**ROSE**  
**What's happening?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Hold on to something!**

They each grab whatever they can find for support as Daga's forced intrusion into the Tardis' systems causes total havoc. Daga's expression changes by the second, from joy to terror to excitement, like a series of still images one after the other. Golden light envelops him from below as the shaking slows.

**DAGA**  
**Oh, Doctor... Oh, Doctor...**

Daga's smile disappears, as if he's just been made aware of horrible news. His eyes focus on the Doctor one final time.

**DAGA**  
**You cheater!**

The Doctor winks at Daga.

Daga's mangled features heal. His hair shortens. His eye restores itself and he suddenly grows younger. He's a young man, then a child, a toddler, and a baby. When everything quiets, he's a small white leathery ball on the ground that every once in a while moves from within.

With the room settled, Rose and the Doctor move over to the console to investigate the mysterious moving ball.

**ROSE**  
**It's like a volleyball.**

The Doctor picks it up.

**DOCTOR**  
**Spider egg, actually.**

He shows it to Rose. She recoils and screams.

**DOCTOR**  
**Really? After everything, you're still scared of a spider?**

**ROSE**  
**Duh. Did you know that was going to happen?**

He shrugs.

**DOCTOR**  
**The Tardis exists partially outside of time. We can interact with it, sure, but to actually become part of it. That's uncharted territory, even for me. And that's saying a lot.**

**ROSE**  
**Why did he think you were in prison with him? You weren't, were you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**No.**

**ROSE**  
**Does that mean you will be in the future? Your future, I mean.**

The Doctor thinks.

**DOCTOR**  
**That's one possibility.**

**ROSE**  
**We don't have to take care of him now, do we? I mean, no offense, but I'm not really ready for a baby... especially one with eight legs and a homicidal streak.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I've never been to his home planet, but I have to assume the orphanages there have doorsteps.**

**ROSE**  
**So, after all he did, trying to take over the world, all the people he killed, he gets off.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Who knows what turns a man into a monster? Given a fresh start, maybe things will be different this go around. You have my sonic screwdriver?**

Rose reaches down her shirt and pulls out the sonic screwdriver. She hands it to the Doctor. He shoots her a look.

**ROSE**  
**Don't get any ideas. I had to hide it in case I got the chance to slip it to you.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'll have to go back in and lift the level one containment. I can do it with this, now. Why don't you go to your room and get cleaned up. I'll clean up in here and set the people free.**

**ROSE**  
**Okay.**

She walks around the cylindrical core, but stops. She watches him a moment as he puts down the egg and starts dragging Van Clive's body by the ankles. Put off by the image, she keeps walking.

INT. BATHROOM – ROSE'S ROOM

At first glance, the bathroom looks like one you might find in a typical modern apartment, with the appearance of "checkered-tiles" on the walls and floor. On closer inspection, the room is actually a hollowed out bone, a solid piece with grooves carved into it to make it appear more familiar to human eyes. The sink, toilet, and shower are connected to fleshy tubes that deliver water and remove waste.

Rose peels off her blood stained clothes and drops them on the ground. She steps into the shower and leans against the wall as water excretes from the ceiling and falls like rain. Extending one arm, she watches some of the blood drip from her fingertip and fall. It is absorbed into the floor rather than filtered down into a drain.

INT. TARDIS – LATER

The Doctor works on repairing the command console with the sonic screwdriver. He looks up to see Rose staring at him from the doorway. Her hair is still wet from the shower and she wears a robe, sweatpants, and fluffy slippers.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, good, you figured out the shower. I disabled the containment, got everyone out. We'll be on our way soon, but Daga did a number on this console. Just having to fix it up, and then we'll be off.**

**ROSE**  
**We're not going to save them, are we?**

The Doctor inhales and thinks. He puts down the screwdriver.

**DOCTOR**  
**We can't.**

**ROSE**  
**Why not?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Adam died, so you want to go back and warn him. But if you do that, he won't die, and you won't have reason to go back and warn him. That's what we call a paradox and it's very dangerous to the timestream.**

**ROSE**  
**But the same thing can be said about anything we change for the purpose of changing it, if that's the only reason we're doing it.**

**DOCTOR**  
**The Tardis doesn't exist so we can cheat life and death and make things better for ourselves.**

**ROSE**  
**But this isn't for me, it's for Adam.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose...**

**ROSE**  
**He was just a kid, a good kid without a family trying to impress a man who was using him. Daga gets another chance, but Adam doesn't? That's fair? That's moral?**

**DOCTOR**  
**That's life. Second chances aren't earned by being good, or forfeited by being bad. We help who we can.**

**ROSE**  
**And we can help Adam.**

**DOCTOR**  
**No, we can't.**

The Doctor picks up the sonic screwdriver and goes back to work, hoping Rose will drop it. Surprisingly enough, she does. She turns around and walks back to her room.

INT. ROSE'S ROOM

Rose closes the door and leans against it. She closes her eyes and breathes in.

INT. VAN CLIVE'S OFFICE – FLASHBACK

Rose remembers back to when she and the Doctor first met Van Clive in his office. Paula had brought in the red briefcase and, while Van Clive talked to the Doctor, a tabloid newspaper article in the briefcase caught her attention. The headline read, "My Dad Saved the World from an Alien Dragon".

**DOCTOR**  
**It's a bloody sonic screwdriver, you imp.**

**VAN CLIVE**  
**Damn, really? I was betting it was a laser torch or something.**

Adam noticed her reach for the article and closed the briefcase. She had to pull her hand back to avoid it getting caught.

INT. ROSE'S ROOM

Rose opens her eyes and walks to the bathroom.

INT. VAN CLIVE'S OFFICE – FLASHBACK

While Paula waxed poetic about how she would have readily slept with her own brother to get a mention in his will, what we didn't see at the time was Rose seize the opportunity, when Paula's back was turned, to reach into the red briefcase on Van Clive's desk and remove the tabloid article.

**PAULA**  
**My brother didn't like the idea of his own security personnel spying on him, probably because of his compulsive pornography addiction. Why he even bothered when he could have had any woman in the world, at the same time, is anyone's best guess. Hell, I would've slept with him if it got me into his will.**

**ROSE**  
**Ew. That's your brother.**

Rose stuffed the article into her back pocket.

INT. BATHROOM – ROSE'S ROOM

Rose retrieves the article from the back pocket of her discarded pants and walks back into her room.

INT. ADAM'S WORKSHOP – FLASHBACK

Shot through the chest by the overzealous guard, Adam looked up at Rose as she held him in her arms.

**ADAM**  
**I didn't mean... to lie to you... before.**

**ROSE**  
**Lie to me? About what?**

**ADAM**  
**If I had a time machine... I wouldn't use it... to meet some old scientists... I'd use it... to save my family.**

Rose cried.

INT. ROSE'S ROOM

At the antique desk in her room, Rose unfolds the newspaper article. The headline reads, "My Dad Saved the World from an Alien Dragon". Under the headline is a picture of a photoshopped dragon...

… and Rose.

END CREDITS ROLL

- End Episode 3 - Serial, To be Continued...-  
(Feedback is always appreciated.)


	19. Chapter 19 - Episode 4 Intro

EXT. ISLAND SHORELINE – NIGHT

A makeshift campfire crackles on the beach. The flames dance wildly, whipped this way and that by the same ocean breeze that rattles a nearby bush. Hushed whispers bicker back and forth, then stifle.

The Doctor's head pops up over the brush. His shoulders are bare, his eyes are wide, and for some reason his skin is painted a darker shade. He's like a fox, poking its head up out of a foxhole, cautious and alert.

**DOCTOR**  
**I see them.**

He ducks down.

**ROSE (O.S.)**  
**What'll you give me if I do it?**

**DOCTOR (O.S.)**  
**I'm not going to ****_give_**** you anything.**

Rose's head pops up over the brush. Her hair is braided into two pigtails that chain down behind her ears and then in front of her shoulders, which are themselves clad in a thick animal-hide armor.

**ROSE**  
**They're so far away. Are you sure he'll even see us?**

**DOCTOR (O.S.)**  
**That's what the fire's for.**

She grins and looks back, presumably at the Doctor, but we can't see him.

**ROSE**  
**So, what'll you give me?**

Our perspective changes, and we now see the Doctor, sitting cross-legged. He's practically naked, wearing only a loin cloth to hide his genitals. A fishing spear rests across his lap.

**DOCTOR**  
**Isn't this enough?**

**ROSE (O.S.)**  
**I don't think so. If I do it, you owe me.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Fine, I owe you. Let's just get out there.**

He stands and motions for her to hurry.

EXT. THE OCEAN – NIGHT

Three Spanish ships, a carrack and two caravels, approach the island. The Doctor and Rose's fire can be seen in the distance.

SUPERIMPOSE: OCTOBER 12, 1492

EXT. PINTA – NIGHT

A broad-shouldered, handsome, Spanish lookout peers through a spyglass. He is RODRIGO DE TRIANA (24), and the sight of light and land ignites in his tired eyes energy anew. He shouts to those below:

**RODRIGO**  
**(in Spanish)**  
**Land! Land!**

It is two in the morning, but the Pinta has suddenly come alive. The captain, MARTIN ALONSO PINZON (51), emerges from his cabin, still pulling his clothes on over his pajamas. A DECKHAND meets him at the deck railing and hands him a spyglass.

**DECKHAND**  
**(in Spanish)**  
**Captain!**

Martin takes the spyglass and presses it to his eye. He sees the fire and land in the distance.

**MARTIN**  
**(in Spanish)**  
**For God's sake, someone wake Columbus. Fire the lombard!**

The crew hurries to fire off the smoothbore cannon to further disrupt the peaceful night.

EXT. ISLAND SHORELINE – NIGHT

In the distance, we hear the lombard echo like pre-storm thunder. We see two shadows on the sand come together in the firelight.

**DOCTOR (O.S.)**  
**Take my hand.**

Out of view, Rose laughs.

EXT. SANTA MARIA – NIGHT

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS (42) emerges from his cabin amidst the cheers of his crew. They pat him on the back and congratulate him as he tries desperately to push by to capture a glimpse of land for himself.

**CREWMAN 1**  
**(in Spanish)**  
**Hail, Columbus!**

**CREWMAN 2**  
**(in Spanish)**  
**God bless, Columbus!**

Columbus jumps up and down when he reaches the railing, overjoyed at the sight of light in the distance. One of his men passes him a spyglass and he has to calm himself down enough to use it without poking himself in the eye. But when he peers through the spyglass, he appears confused. He removes the spyglass from his eye, checks it for defects, then peers through a second time.

COLUMBUS'S POV – NIGHT

Through the spyglass, we see what Christopher Columbus sees upon "discovering America". He sees Rose, dressed in full Viking armor and dual-horned Berserker helm, and the Doctor, dressed as a native. They dance together like fools, hand-in-hand, around the beach campfire.

EXT. SANTA MARIA – NIGHT

A confused Columbus hands the spyglass to one of his crewmen. When the crewman sees the expression on the Admiral's face, he questions it.

**CREWMAN 3**  
**(in Spanish)**  
**Admiral Columbus? Have we not reached the Indies?**

Columbus opens his mouth to speak, but can only shake his head.

-To be Continued...-


	20. Chapter 20 - Never a Ferrari

INT. TARDIS

The Doctor and Rose enter the Tardis, still wearing their Viking and native garb, laughing like a couple of idiots. She has to duck to avoid hitting the helm horns on the doorframe.

**ROSE**  
**Wonder how he'll explain that one to Ferdinand and Isabella.**

**DOCTOR**  
**There's a lifetime pension promised to the first person who spotted land. You think he's gonna give that up, or his discovery, to you?**

**ROSE**  
**Not even a footnote? I'm pretty sure I'm offended.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You and Leif Ericson.**

Rose laughs so hard, the helm slips on her head and falls over her eyes.

**DOCTOR**  
**Here, let me help you with that.**

He tries pulling off the helm, but it's attached by a buckle strap under her chin. They fumble with it for a good ten seconds, laughing the entire time before she finally manages to undo the strap. Some of her hair has broken free of the braids and sticks straight up, disheveled from fighting with the helm. The Doctor laughs at her.

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Your hair. You look like a chrysanthemum.**

She laughs and fans herself with her hand.

**ROSE**  
**Oh man, I've gotta get out of this thing. I'm going to pass out.**

She walks to...

INT. CHANGING CLOSET VORTEX – TARDIS

Rose enters with the Doctor not too far behind. She walks up to the control pad on the clothing frame and types something in. She then peels off the top layer of her armor and deposits it in the funnel-shaped material receptacle next to the frame. The mesh glows yellow and she steps through.

The mesh bends around her form and her clothes are re-shaped into a modern pair of stone washed bell-bottoms and a navy and lace-print blouse. She admires herself in a nearby reflective panel.

**ROSE**  
**Have I mentioned how much I love this thing?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Once or twice.**

The Doctor takes his fishing spear and leans it against the wall near the semi-circular rack of clothes. He takes the Viking helm and puts it on a shelf with other hats and helmets.

**DOCTOR**  
**We'll keep those, for the memories.**

**ROSE**  
**I never would have guessed you were so sentimental.**

He steps up to the control pad and types something in.

**ROSE**  
**Wait. Let me try something.**

She steps up to the control pad and types something. He tries to peek over her shoulder, but she blocks his view.

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose, please, not the clown costume again.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not gonna do the clown costume.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm serious, look at me. Look at me.**

She looks at him.

**DOCTOR**  
**Not the clown costume again.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not doing the clown costume. Just let me see this. Please.**

She steps back, grabs a white fur coat off the rack and feeds it into the machine. He steps towards the mesh. It bends around him into the shape of...

… a clown costume, with big red shoes, a white face, a red ball nose, a rainbow afro, and a baggy polka-dotted jumpsuit. Rose giggles.

**ROSE**  
**That is never getting old.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm deleting this costume from the programming the second you go to sleep. You know that, right?**

**ROSE**  
**Okay, this time, I'm serious.**

She keys in something else. The mesh lights up again. He removes the rainbow afro and the big red slippers and feeds them into the funnel. He steps through.

On the other side, he appears wearing a pinstripe brown suit and tie under a lighter brown overcoat. He steps in front of the reflective panel and appraises the new wardrobe.

**DOCTOR**  
**I miss the leather.**

Rose looks him over and crinkles her nose.

**ROSE**  
**Not feelin' the pinstripes.**

She takes his overcoat and jacket and feeds them back into the machine. She has him step through again and again.

MONTAGE: The Doctor wearing a sweater vest and khakis, a football jersey over jeans, a Naval uniform, the clown outfit again with Rose laughing, a James Bond tuxedo, a lab coat, and finally...

The Doctor steps up to the reflective panel wearing a white-collared long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top buttons open. Over the shirt, he wears a solid gray vest. His pants are black to match the boots. Very Johnny Depp.

**ROSE**  
**Oh, you are hot.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I am hot. Hot's good, right?**

**ROSE**  
**Very good.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I still miss the leather.**

She rolls her eyes.

INT. TARDIS

Rose follows him back into the control room.

**DOCTOR**  
**So, where should we go now? I kind of like this diversion idea. Oh, I know, how about we go to New Age Blunk and make fun of the K'gor'ma'nor's gilzzax stull?**

**ROSE**  
**You do know when you name drop these people from other planets that I have no idea what you're talking about, right?**

**DOCTOR**  
**We could moon Nixon.**

**ROSE**  
**I've got a better idea, and we don't even have to leave the Tardis to do it.**

**DOCTOR**  
**(eyebrow raised)**  
**Okay...**

**ROSE**  
**What if you teach me how to drive this puppy?**

Any semblance of a smile fades to caution.

**DOCTOR**  
**Why-why-why do you want to know that?**

**ROSE**  
**For all intents and purposes, I live here. It's my home. I should know how to, you know, drive it, or whatever it's called. Pilot it. Come on, you owe me.**

**DOCTOR**  
**But I can take you anywhere you want to go. Anywhere and-**

**ROSE**  
**-anywhen. Yeah, I know.**

He steps up to the console.

**DOCTOR**  
**So, where and when do you want to go? I'll take you right now.**

**ROSE**  
**That's not the point. What if something happens to you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Why? Were you planning on whacking me in my sleep?**

**ROSE**  
**No, but it's not as if we haven't run into our fair share of danger. What if something happens to you when we're halfway across the galaxy in the year five million torturing some New Age Blunker about his stingy what's'it?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yeah, none of that was close.**

**ROSE**  
**I'd be stranded is the point.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose, you have to understand, time and space are very delicate matters, and the Tardis is an advanced creature with technology far beyond...**

**ROSE**  
**So, what, I'm not smart enough?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I didn't say that.**

**ROSE**  
**Then, you don't trust me.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I trust you.**

**ROSE**  
**Then, give me the damn car keys, you jackass.**

The Doctor sighs.

**DOCTOR**  
**We were having a fun time.**

**ROSE**  
**I trust you, you know. I left my Mom, my friends, and my boyfriend. I've been shot at, pushed around, almost blown up.**

**DOCTOR**  
**So, you want to go home? Is that it? I can bring you home, if you want.**

**ROSE**  
**No, god, don't make this a bigger thing.**

**DOCTOR**  
**It's hard to do that when you're screaming at me.**

**ROSE**  
**I'm not screaming!**

Rose reflects on her tone and takes a breath.

**ROSE**  
**(calm)**  
**I am not screaming. I would like you to teach me how to pilot the Tardis.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Is this about Adam?**

Her lip quivers, caught off guard. She folds her arms across her chest.

**ROSE**  
**You know what? That's not fair.**

She storms out to her room.

**DOCTOR**  
**(to himself)**  
**We were having fun.**

He taps the console with his fist.

INT. ROSE'S ROOM

Rose leans back on her "bed" while watching modern day television on the holo-screen. A little piece of home to distract her from alien problems. The door alert buzzes.

**ROSE**  
**Go away.**

**DOCTOR (V.O.)**  
**Where am I gonna go?**

**ROSE**  
**Fine.**

The door opens and the Doctor steps through. She looks straight at the holo-screen, ignoring him. He sits at the desk.

**DOCTOR**  
**What are you watching?**

**ROSE**  
**History Channel.**

**DOCTOR**  
**That's a little on the nose, isn't it?**

**ROSE**  
**What do you want?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Kinda want to go back in time about four minutes. That was fun, eh? Four minutes ago. I liked four minutes ago. Even got a time machine. Can't do it, though.**

**ROSE**  
**It's not about Adam.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Then, what is it about?**

**ROSE**  
**Desk drawer.**

He looks at the desk.

**DOCTOR**  
**If you want a different desk, I can get you a-**

**ROSE**  
**No, in the desk drawer. Don't be dense.**

He opens the desk drawer and pulls out the tabloid article with the headline "My Dad Saved the World from an Alien Dragon". Rose's picture appears under the headline.

**DOCTOR**  
**Ah.**

**ROSE**  
**It was in Van Clive's briefcase.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose, I...**

**ROSE**  
**It's just, ever since I was little, my mother has told me stories about him, how he saved her from her family. How he took care of her when she had these medical problems. They weren't even sure that it would be safe for her to have me, but she wanted a baby so badly. The pregnancy was a nightmare, but she got through it, and they were both so happy. They didn't have a lot of money, so he had to work two jobs, but things were working out. And then one morning, he's headed to work and a drunk driver runs a stop sign.**

The Doctor hangs his head as if it just happened.

**ROSE**  
**Some idiot decides he needs to be out partying until five in the morning and, because of that, I get to grow up without a Dad. My mother gets to live without her husband. I've spent my whole life thinking my Dad died this meaningless, horrible, death and then I see that article.**

**DOCTOR**  
**The article says you went back in time to try and save him, but your actions created a paradox that opened up a rift in time and space. Your Dad then sacrificed himself to save everybody from the alien dragon that invaded our temporal plane. It's sad this kind of thing only made the Inquirer.**

**ROSE**  
**I know we're not supposed to use the Tardis selfishly, but this is different. We already did it, or else that article wouldn't exist, right?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Surprisingly, that's correct, yes.**

**ROSE**  
**So, we have to go.**

**DOCTOR**  
**But, your father dies. We go back to save him and... we don't. This picture is of you crying. Why would you want to re-live that? I can take you anywhere in his life and you want to go watch him die? Wouldn't you rather watch him... live?**

Rose gets up from the bed and walks over. She takes the article from him and she proudly holds it up.

**ROSE**  
**My father saves the world. I kinda want to see that.**

The Doctor thinks a moment, then nods.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET CORNER

Fall leaves blow across the gray pavement early in the morning. We hear the ethereal rotors of the Tardis as it materializes, in a closed down hardware store parking lot, in the form of a delivery truck. The Doctor and Rose climb out the back wearing winter coats. He looks back at the Tardis.

**DOCTOR**  
**Never a Ferrari.**

Across the street stands Calvary Church, a huge modern monstrosity in the middle of a Philadelphia suburb. Rose stares at the building from the street corner and the Doctor comes up behind her.

**ROSE**  
**That's the church, Calvary. Pastor Camp had been passing him odd jobs around the building, to help him out; fix a leaky faucet, repair a cracked pew, splash a bit of paint on the walls of some of the classrooms and offices. He could do anything with his hands. He had to get in early, because he also took shifts in the kitchen at Carl Anthony's Restaurant.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Cooked, too?**

**ROSE**  
**Jack of all trades.**

A 1982 beige Ford Tempo pulls up across the intersection and parks. Out steps ETHAN TAYLOR (33), wearing painter's clothing. Rose sees him get out and pop the trunk to retrieve more gear than any one man should attempt to carry alone. A knot catches in her throat.

**ROSE**  
**This is it. That's my Dad. He's not even going to see the car because of everything he's carrying.**

Beyond Ethan, a swerving and speeding car turns a far off corner and heads towards him.

Rose runs towards her father.

Carrying so much he can't even see, Ethan closes the trunk and stumbles into the middle of the road on his way to crossing the street.

**ROSE**  
**Watch out!**

The car gets closer... and closer... Ethan doesn't see it.

And...

Rose reaches him first. She grabs his arm and pulls him out of the road. He trips and falls over her. Tools and equipment go flying, but the drunk driver zooms by and the two of them are unharmed.

Ethan laughs.

**ROSE**  
**I did it. I saved you. You're alive!**

She turns back, elated, until she sees him next to her, lying in the road laughing like a fool and stumbling to get up.

**ETHAN**  
**Thanks. I had a great time.**

He laughs.

The Doctor runs over and helps Rose up.

**DOCTOR**  
**Are you all right?**

**ROSE**  
**No, I'm not all right. Look at him.**

The Doctor watches Ethan, who is still laughing for some reason.

**ROSE**  
**He's bloody drunk.**

The Doctor winces.

-To be Continued...-


	21. Chapter 21 - Dragon Dragon Dragon Dragon

INT. PASTOR'S OFFICE – CALVARY CHURCH

Rose leans forward while seated in one of two fold-out chairs to peer across the hall through the open office door into the next room. There she sees Ethan sprawled out on a bargain-basement couch with a cup of coffee in his hands. A second man, PASTOR CAMP (45), wearing a suit and tie, sits across from him in the dark, talking to him. We can't hear what they're saying.

**ROSE**  
**You don't understand. I don't even drink champagne at weddings. During the toast, I press it to my lips and then wipe them with a napkin. I hate it when people drink. It's cost me friends. My best friend from preschool was Casey Kelly. In first grade, we threw a pretend wedding for me and her two year old brother so we could be sisters.**

In the small cramped office, over by the window, the Doctor obsessively looks out the window at every angle. He bends his knees to look up, stands on his toes to look down, and moves left and right every other moment.

**DOCTOR**  
**Mmhm.**

**ROSE**  
**Then, one night in high school, my Mom was going to be out, so I invited a bunch of friends over for a sleepover. Okay, it was kind of a party. The point is, Casey brought alcohol, even though I told everyone not to, and they all got wasted. I just hid in my room and cried. The next day in school, we had a big fight in the middle of the caf, and we haven't spoken to each other since.**

The Doctor exhales onto the glass window, creating a fogged spot. He wipes it away with the meaty side of his fist and looks through that exact spot.

Rose notices his attention is elsewhere.

**ROSE**  
**Are you even listening to me?**

He turns around.

**DOCTOR**  
**Where's the dragon?**

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Your father dies when you're a baby. You grow up, grab a time machine, so you go back in time to save him. You did that, so now, in the future, you've got no reason to go back in time. That creates a paradox, which rips spacetime a new one, and let's a dragon slip in to terrorize the villagers. But... no dragon. Where's the damn dragon?**

**ROSE**  
**I don't know.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Well, that's a problem. We've done everything the same, but things are happening differently.**

**ROSE**  
**Doctor, I'm having a little bit of a personal crisis over here.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, yes, right.**

He walks over and sits down in the chair next to her. He reaches over and takes her hand. He leans in and looks her right in the eye.

**DOCTOR**  
**And how long will you be needing for that? Because we really need to find that dragon.**

She takes her hand back as the Pastor walks across the hall and into the office.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Thank you so much for waiting. He's still a bit shaken up, and the like, but I've given him some coffee and he's just laying down for a bit.**

Pastor Camp shakes their hands then walks around his desk and sits.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**So, I'm Pastor Winn Camp. I didn't catch your names.**

**DOCTOR**  
**She's Rose- **

**ROSE  
I'm Mary-**

They look at each other.

**ROSE**  
**Rosemary.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Rosemary, yes, and I'm the Doctor.**

**ROSE**  
**-Columbus. Dr. Columbus.**

The Doctor grins.

Pastor Camp looks at them quizzically.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Okay. And are you friends of Ethan's?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Yes.  
**

**ROSE  
No.**

They look at each other.

**DOCTOR**  
**More friends of the family, really.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Oh, so you're friends of Jackie's?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Nooooo. **

**ROSE  
Yes.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Sh-should I leave and come back? Would that be helpful?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Probably not.**

**ROSE**  
**I knew Jackie in another time... of our lives. She probably wouldn't remember me, but when I ran into Ethan, I remembered her. We got to talking, you know.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Oh, well, it's an incredible thing you've done. I saw the whole thing from the window. I can't imagine what it would've done to Jackie if anything happened to him. Plus, with the little one at home. I did call her, just so you know.**

**ROSE**  
**Jackie's coming here?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**We have sort of an arrangement, she and I. This isn't the first time this has happened.**

**DOCTOR**  
**No kidding.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**We try to sneak him out of here before the bitties come in to the office. He's a good man. I'm afraid just not a very happy one.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Right, so, what can you tell me about the dragon?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**I'm sorry, the what?**

**ROSE**  
**When you say "not very happy", what do you mean by that?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**You'd have to ask him. It's not my place to go into details. Did he just say 'dragon'?**

**ROSE**  
**It's the name of his dog. He's lost his dog.**

She gets up and heads for the door. The Doctor sees this and follows.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Where are you going?**

**DOCTOR**  
**To look for the dragon.**

Pastor Camp follows them out into...

INT. HALLWAY – CALVARY CHURCH

Rose marches across the hall and into the dark room where Ethan was seen sprawled out on the couch.

**ROSE (O.S.)**  
**I'm going to kick a grown man in the... he's gone.**

She comes back out into the hall.

**ROSE**  
**He's not in there.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**What do you mean he's not in there? I was just...**

Pastor Camp leans into the room and turns the light on. He looks around.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**He was just here.**

**ROSE**  
**Come on, he couldn't have gone far.**

The Doctor runs. Rose follows, with Pastor Camp not far behind.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET CORNER – DAY

Ethan fumbles with his keys to unlock the door to his Ford Tempo. Across the street, Rose, Pastor Camp, and the Doctor run after him.

**ROSE**  
**No!**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Ethan, don't!**

**DOCTOR**  
**Here dragon, dragon. Here dragon, dragon.**

Ethan pretends not to hear them. He finally gets the key in the door, unlocks it, and pulls the handle. Rose makes it to him before he can open the door all the way and slams it shut as he tries to open it.

**ROSE**  
**What are you doing? Are you trying to kill somebody? Are you trying to get yourself killed?  
**

**ETHAN**  
**What? Oh, hello, again. No, it's fine. I was just going to, um, grab a paper.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Ethan, give me your keys.**

**ETHAN**  
**I was gonna get you one, too, Pastor. I felt bad. You love reading the paper.**

Pastor Camp reaches for the keys, but Ethan plays keep-away.

**ROSE**  
**You can't just get into a car when you're loaded. You're a grown man. Do you have any idea how irresponsible that is?**

**ETHAN**  
**I had coffee. Besides, it's just down the street.**

The Doctor hops forward, pressing his own hands and face against the back window of the Tempo. He obsesses over the interior.

**DOCTOR**  
**Dragon? Are you hiding in there, dragon?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Were you three out drinking together last night?**

Rose pulls the Doctor away from the car.

**ROSE**  
**Doctor, I really need you to focus. Okay? Can you help me, please?**

**ETHAN**  
**You called a Doctor on me, Pastor?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**I didn't call him. These people saved your life.**

**JACKIE (O.S.)**  
**Ethan!**

They all turn.

Across the street, a bus drives away from the nearby bus stop from where Jackie approaches wearing a yellow waitress's apron. She's carrying a BABY GIRL with her in an infant carrier.

**ETHAN**  
**Saved my life for a few minutes, anyway.**

The Doctor sees Jackie.

**DOCTOR**  
**(whispers)**  
**Dragon?**

**ETHAN  
Close enough.**

Jackie marches up to Ethan and sniffs him several times.

**JACKIE**  
**Blow into my face.**

**ETHAN**  
**Jackie, come on.**

**JACKIE**  
**(sniffs)**  
**I can't believe you. You promised.**

Rose looks down at the baby, sees herself.

**ROSE**  
**Is that... Rose?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Beautiful.**

**JACKIE**  
**Who the hell are you two?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Jackie, we've talked about that word.**

**JACKIE**  
**Well, I'm sorry, Pastor, but I'm supposed to be dropping Rose off at Jannie Culberson's, and then quickly darting across town by six, which I was already late for from making a thousand calls trying to track down this souse. I thought your were dead.**

**ETHAN**  
**I told you I was sleeping at Donny's. You're always forgetting things.**

**JACKIE**  
**You told me no such thing, or Donny for that matter. Who do you think I called first? Gave him an earful before I realized you weren't even with him.**

**ROSE**  
**You weren't even home last night? You've got a little baby.**

**ETHAN**  
**(to Jackie)**  
**I _was_ at Donny's. You know him. He's just a kidder. He was riding you, is all. Trust me.**

**JACKIE**  
**How can I, when all you ever do is lie? It's my Dad all over again. Don't think I'm stupid.**

**ETHAN**  
**That's not fair. After everything I've done for you, driving you around, to all the doctors, all I've sacrificed to pay off your debts.**

**JACKIE**  
**After all of it, I'm my mother. You've turned me into my mother. Is this her?**

Jackie motions to Rose.

**ETHAN**  
**Oh, for pete's sake, Jackie. In front of people like this? That's how you want it?**

Jackie casts an accusatory glance at Rose.

**JACKIE**  
**Just another one of your tramps.**

**ROSE**  
**(to Ethan)**  
**You're a drunkard and a cheat?**

**JACKIE  
You ought to know.**

**ETHAN**  
**I am not a cheat.**

Pastor Camp notices some curious onlookers at the bus stop.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Maybe we should move this inside. Come on.**

He tries to pull Jackie with him but she shakes him off.

**DOCTOR**  
**Why inside? Is that where the dragon is? Do you have a pet dragon?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**What?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Dragon, dragon, dragon, dragon, dragon.**

**JACKIE**  
**This your drinking buddy? He sounds even more loaded than you.**

**ETHAN**  
**Don't be ridiculous. I have no idea who these people are.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**(to Jackie)**  
**Uh, she said she was an old friend of yours.**

**JACKIE**  
**I've never seen this girl before in my life.**

The baby whines.

**ROSE**  
**I told you she wouldn't remember me.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**They did save Ethan's life.**

**JACKIE**  
**Well, thank you for that. Cause now I'm gonna be the one to kill him.**

A guttural 'SKREEEEEEE' is heard from above. Everyone looks up to where a black-fanged dragon the size of a double decker bus tucks its wings to its side and dive-bombs PEDESTRIANS waiting at the bus stop. It picks one of them up in its teeth and flies off as everyone else runs away screaming.

The Doctor points at the dragon.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oh, there's the dragon.**

The Doctor feints, bouncing off the car as he falls. Rose sees this and kneels down to try and wake him.

**ROSE**  
**Doctor, wake up.**

Jackie screams. The baby cries. Pastor Camp and Ethan huddle around Jackie, not knowing what to do. Rose observes the mayhem with her hand to her head.

**ROSE**  
**Oh, I am so overwhelmed.**

The dragon SKREEEEEs.

-To be Continued...-


	22. Chapter 22 - Loop of Opportunities

EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND – DAY

A handful of students dropped off at school a little early by their parents play on the swings and jungle gym before the morning bell. ERIC, a chunky bully, bulldozes through a line of girls waiting to use the slide. He stands at the top and laughs at them, blocking their way.

The girls scream and cry and Eric assumes it is because he's won. He doesn't notice the dragon until it's too late.

He turns around and screams just as the dragon swoops down and gobbles him up.

EXT. ENTRANCE – CALVARY CHURCH

Pastor Camp stands by the door, waving people inside.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Come on! Hurry! Inside the church!**

A crowd of three who had been waiting by the bus stop makes a run for Pastor Camp. The dragon soars overhead and prepares to swoop down. Just before his massive jaws clamp down around them, they sneak inside and Pastor Camp shuts the door. The dragon veers away before crashing.

INT. SANCTUARY – CALVARY CHURCH

Jackie and a crowd of people run to one of the larger windows. They see the massive dragon terrorizing the neighborhood outside.

**JACKIE**  
**Why won't it leave? What's it want?**

GERALD, a tabloid reporter with a camera, pushes Jackie aside to take the dragon's picture.

**GERALD**  
**Did anyone see where it came from?**

He snaps some pictures as Pastor Camp runs by.

INT. PASTOR'S OFFICE – CALVARY CHURCH

Pastor Camp and a few stragglers run into his office. He picks up the phone. There's no dial tone.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Hello? Hello?!**

He tries dialing, but it doesn't work.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Check the phones in the other offices.**

They run off.

INT. SANCTUARY – CALVARY CHURCH

Rose is seen sitting in a pew towards the middle of the sanctuary. Across the aisle, she sees Ethan, sitting in another pew with baby Rose in the infant carrier next to him. He rocks the carrier gently.

All of a sudden, the Doctor sits up next to Rose. He grabs the back of the pew in front of them to steady himself.

**DOCTOR**  
**Whoa.**

**ROSE**  
**Doctor, are you all right?**

His eyes cross. He shakes his head and looks at her.

THE DOCTOR'S POV – We see two of Rose and also of everything else. The room spins. Sounds are somewhat muffled, like listening through a bedsheet.

**ROSE**  
**Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me?**

**DOCTOR**  
**There are two of you. Why are there two of you? Uhh, I'm going to be sick.**

Rose panics and looks around. She sees a stack of collection plates in the pew behind them and grabs the one on top. She hands it to the Doctor just in time to catch his purple vomit.

Several people turn at the sound of the Doctor throwing up. Rose tosses them a non-chalant wave.

The Doctor wipes some purple from his chin and hides the collection plate on the ground.

**DOCTOR**  
**Oooooooh, that's gonna be more than ten percent.**

**ROSE**  
**Ugh, that smell. And why is it purple?**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm sorry, princess. I didn't realize you vomit unicorn-scented rainbows.**

**ROSE**  
**What's wrong with you?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Jury's out on that one, but I'm seeing and hearing double. The world's spinning faster than usual. Where are we?**

**ROSE**  
**We're inside the church. When the dragon attacked, we all ran in here for cover. The Pastor and my... I mean, Ethan, helped me carry you inside.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Right, and is your Dad dead yet?**

**ROSE**  
**No. And you don't have to say it like that.**

The Doctor tries to stand.

**DOCTOR**  
**All right, then, help me to the window. I need to- whuh-uh oh.**

He falls over and lands in between the pews. Rose cringes.

**DOCTOR (O.S.)**  
**Had to land on the collection plate.**

Pastor Camp walks over carrying some matzo crackers and a Bible under his arm. He and Rose help up the Doctor, carefully avoiding the purple stains on his clothes.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Here, try some of these. It always helps settle my stomach when I'm a bit off.**

Pastor Camp hands the Doctor some matzo cracker pieces. The Doctor eats a bite.

**DOCTOR**  
**Thank you.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Sorry, it's all we had in the kitchen. We use them for communion.**

**ROSE**  
**Should he really be eating them, then?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Don't worry. The Catholics believe it's really the body of Christ. We just believe you can get them at the Grand Union for a dollar eighty-nine with a coupon.**

**ROSE**  
**Oh.**

Pastor Camp looks around to see if anyone's watching. He leans in close and lowers his voice so no one nosy can overhear him.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**(to the Doctor)**  
**Are you an angel?**

**ROSE**  
**Ha!**

**DOCTOR**  
**Been called many things, my good man, but never that.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**But, you knew about the dragon. You knew it was coming.**

The Doctor holds up one of the crackers.

**DOCTOR**  
**Hey, these are pretty good when you're eatin' them just to have.**

Pastor Camp thumbs through to a bookmarked page in his Bible.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**(reading aloud)**  
**Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down-that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.**

He stops reading.

**DOCTOR**  
**Deep stuff, right there.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Revelation, Chapter 12, verses seven through nine. Is it the end of the world?**

**DOCTOR**  
**You humans. You're fascinated by 'the end'. Obsessed, really. You drive yourself mad thinking about it. You're born into the world completely oblivious to everything, and when you've finally grown up a bit to the point where you can use your brain to do some good, all you want to know is what happens when you die.**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**What's heaven like?**

**DOCTOR**  
**Crowded, I'd imagine. Now, leave me alone. Tend to your flock, good shepherd. Rose, I need to get to a window.**

Rose helps the Doctor to his feet as Pastor Camp wanders off. She carries the Doctor to the nearest window and he leans against the sill. He blinks his eyes several times while trying to look outside.

**DOCTOR**  
**Where is it? Where's the car?**

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**What car?**

**DOCTOR**  
**It's dreadful. I can see two of everything, but not one of the one thing we need.**

**ROSE**  
**You're white as a sheet.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Rose, something's gone terribly wrong, and I think it might, possibly, be somewhere in the general realm of, kind of, totally my fault, a little.**

**ROSE**  
**No, you warned me about the danger. If I hadn't been so selfish. I begged to come here. If I hadn't wanted so badly to see my Dad, we'd never-**

**DOCTOR**  
**No, you don't understand, and that's fine. I don't need you to. You remember the car the drunk driver was driving? It's not out there.**

**ROSE**  
**Of course it isn't. He's got to be long gone by now.**

**DOCTOR**  
**No, you're not thinking fourth and fifth dimensionally.**

He stumbles over from the window and into the closest pew.

**ROSE**  
**Here, lay down.**

She sits and helps him down, supporting his head with her lap. He's broken out into a cold sweat and she wipes his forehead dry.

**ROSE**  
**You're soaked, you poor thing.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm gonna re-shape your brain a little, now. I need you to bend with the crazy and just let it absorb, you follow?**

**ROSE**  
**No, but that's not unusual.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Right, okay, so, time is a line and a paradox is what happens when someone changes something that can't be changed without creating a break in that line. So, you go back to save your father, but once you save him, you've got no reason to go back in the future. It's a break. It doesn't work. The way time compensates is by creating an infinite loop at the point of the break, allowing for infinite opportunities to complete the next step and correct the tear, thereby restoring the course of the line. In this case, the break happened when the car missed your Dad.**

**ROSE**  
**So, the car should be out there.**

**DOCTOR**  
**Exactly, following your Dad around like he's dragging an anchor. The way he saved everyone the first time was by voluntarily throwing himself in front of the car to seal the rift in spacetime. Everything went back to normal. All the dead came back. No one even knew anything had happened.**

**ROSE**  
**So, without the car...**

**DOCTOR**  
**...we can't seal the rift and those people are really dead.**

Rose looks across at her father, who continues to rock baby Rose.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET CORNER – DAY

The dragon SKREEs overhead, circling above the church like a vulture. We see Ethan's Tempo, parked across the street. Far in the distance, we also see the car belonging to the drunk driver. It has been pulled over by a police van.

INT. TREVOR'S CAR - DAY

The drunk, TREVOR (26), combs his hair back in his rear view mirror. He sprays several squirts of binaca in his mouth, then hides the spray and comb in the glove box as a male POLICE OFFICER approaches the window. We don't see the officer's face. Both men are apparently completely oblivious to the easily visible dragon in the distance.

**TREVOR**  
**(slurring)**  
**Hello, Officer. Is there-is there anything I can help you with?**

**POLICE OFFICER**  
**Definitely.**

The officer takes a billy club from around his belt and uses it to smash Trevor across the face. Trevor slumps over the steering wheel, unconscious.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET – DAY

The police officer drags Trevor's unconscious body out of the car and over to a patch of grass near the sidewalk. We still don't see his face as the officer turns around and pulls out a Turoksa Annihilator (alien gun) and aims it at the car.

A concentrated beam of energy explodes from the weapon and consumes Trevor's car. Every molecule of the car disintegrates, leaving nothing but a few flecks of ash that disperse in the wind.

The officer walks back towards the police van. He passes by the driver's seat door and walks around to the very back. He opens the back doors and climbs in.

INT. SANCTUARY – CALVARY CHURCH

At the front of the church, a group of people that includes Jackie have taken to praying with Pastor Camp.

**PASTOR CAMP**  
**Father in Heaven, we, your humble servants, pray to you to deliver us from the evil one. We pray for your peace, the kind only you can provide, during these dark times. And, though we are scared, we are your committed followers and children. We love you, Father. We pray for your forgiveness for our sins. We pray for our friends and loved ones. May this judgment pass over us and find us worthy.**

In the infant carrier, next to Ethan, baby Rose makes a fuss. When Jackie hears the baby cry, Jackie gets up and walks over, a stern expression on her face. She picks up the baby and coddles her while berating Ethan.

**JACKIE**  
**Can't you even look after her? She doesn't want to be rocked. She wants to be held. She wants a father.**

**ETHAN**  
**I'm here, I'm talking to her. I'm watching over her. What do you want from me?**

Across the aisle, Rose watches as they continue to argue.

**ROSE**  
**It's not how I pictured them together.**

The Doctor sits up from Rose's lap to have a look. Rose grabs his arm so he doesn't topple right over the other side.

**DOCTOR**  
**Him looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Her, the headlights. That's about what I expected.**

**ROSE**  
**Let's not talk about my mom's headlights.**

**DOCTOR**  
**I'm just saying...**

**ROSE**  
**Well, don't. Don't just say. My mother's a tough cookie, I know that. I've lived with her my whole life, and it wasn't easy. I lived ten minutes from St. Joseph's, but I dormed there my senior year to get away from her. I mean, not to get away. I love my mother, but, just to get some space. It's just, she always used to say how she had to get tough when he died, because she didn't have anyone looking out for her. He was the tough one when he was alive, but nice, to her. He took all her problems on his shoulders and made them seem like nothing, because the only thing important to him was her. Is that what that looks like to you?**

The Doctor watches Jackie storm away from Ethan with the baby in her arms.

**DOCTOR**  
**This is just one moment, and thanks to that nut farmer Pastor, they think it's the end of the bloody world. People always go bonkers at the end. You can't judge him, and their entire relationship, by the end. Go over there. Talk to him.**

**ROSE**  
**He's still drunk.**

**DOCTOR**  
**You came here to get to know your father and all you've managed is to judge him. Go on. I need time to figure out our next move, anyway. Go meet your Dad.**

The Doctor offers her a reassuring smile. When that doesn't work, he pushes her.

**DOCTOR**  
**I'll throw up on you. I'll do it.**

**ROSE**  
**All right, all right, I'm going.**

Before walking over, she looks around. She sees some of the matzo crackers Pastor Camp previously offered to the Doctor. She grabs them and walks them over. She offers Ethan one as an icebreaker.

**ROSE**  
**Cracker?**

**ETHAN**  
**What? Oh, um, sure. Why not?**

He takes a cracker. She sits down next to him.

**ETHAN**  
**Your boyfriend over there looks pretty sick. Got a bit of the flu?**

Rose looks over her shoulder just as the Doctor dry heaves over a second collection plate.

**ROSE**  
**He's a bit dizzy, that's all. He hit his head on your car. He'll be fine.**

**ETHAN**  
**Ah, that's good.**

**ROSE**  
**My name's Rose... mary. Rosemary.**

**ETHAN**  
**That's like my daughter's name. I'm Ethan, Ethan Taylor. Hers is just Rose, though. Like the flower, not the herb, or the Clooney.**

He laughs.

**ROSE**  
**You know George Clooney?**

**ETHAN**  
**Who's George Clooney?**

**ROSE**  
**Nevermind.**

Awkward silence.

**ETHAN**  
**I'm not a cheat.**

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**ETHAN**  
**Before, in the street, you accused me of being a cheat. I may be a drunk, but I'm not a cheat.**

**ROSE**  
**So, where were you last night?**

**ETHAN**  
**You really want to know?**

**ROSE**  
**Yeah, I really do.**

**ETHAN**  
**I was home.**

**ROSE**  
**But Jackie said...**

**ETHAN**  
**Across the street. In my car. I got home around ten and just parked there. I had some Jack on me. I just... couldn't go inside, ya know?**

**ROSE**  
**No, I don't know. Explain it to me.**

**ETHAN**  
**I didn't want her to see me like that. That's why I tried to skip out, before. When I overheard Pastor Camp tell you he'd called Jackie, I... I can't believe I'm telling you this. I don't even know you. You just seem kind of...**

He examines her face.

**ETHAN**  
**Do I know you from somewhere?**

She shakes her head no.

**ETHAN**  
**Oh. Well, anyway, I'm not a cheat. I wanted you to know that the man whose life you saved isn't a cheat.**

**ROSE**  
**Okay. You're not a cheat. So, what kind of man are you? What kind of man gets drunk and sleeps in his car rather than going inside and taking care of his family?**

**ETHAN**  
**The dead kind.**

**ROSE**  
**What?**

**ETHAN**  
**I'm dying, Rosemary. I have liver cancer.**

A woman screams. Rose and Ethan look up.

The Doctor looks skyward.

**DOCTOR**  
**Well, that's not good.**

The church ceiling is peeled back like a layer of onion. Debris crashes down, smashing several of the pews and the cross hanging above the altar. The dragon sticks its head inside the hole its just ripped open and SKREEs!**  
**

-To be Continued...-


End file.
